IARD 4960 Reflection Paper

Jin Sasaki

November 28th 2016

IARD 4960 Reflection Paper

The internship started with farmer field days where Janice would travel to regions in Western Kenya and educate local farmers on the effects of different inputs on bean yield. In most the farms, we visited the biochar combined with vermicompost produced the best results. The plot that had received the biochar + vermicompost treatment not only had the highest yield but were also the healthiest and greenest of all the plots. The second-best treatment was the plots that had received conventional fertilizer. In addition to show casing the different inputs we also educated the farmers on how to make compost piles. We would collect green matter such as manure, green vegetation and create a mound, we would then cover the green layer with brown matter such as dried leaves and sticks. By combining the two different materials it would allow the bacteria to decompose the materials and create compost. We also showcased pyrolysis stoves that would turn wood pieces into biochar that could then be applied on to the field. Although I saw many positives of the farmer field days there were certain aspects of the farmer field days that I found very challenging. I did not understand why we exhibited the usefulness of the pyrolysis stove although it was inaccessible for majority of the farmers. The stove required high grade steel to be used which causes the stove to be very expensive. Many of the farmers were impressed by the pyrolysis stove because it would boil water very quickly without producing a lot of smoke, in addition to this is also created biochar as waste which could be used as fertilizer. It seemed unproductive to show farmers equipment that was too expensive to be implemented.

After the farmer field days, we were dropped off at farms to live with the farmers. Owen Mutoro my Kenyan counterpart and I were dropped off at Benard Jakaa’s farm. The Jakaas are a prominent family in the community and the former head of the household, Nelson Jakaa was an influential and respected leader in the community. The recent passing away of Nelson greatly hurt the farm operations of the Jakaa family because a lot of the knowledge of the farm operations were not transferred to other members of the family.

The Jakaas grew a diverse variety of crops such as maize, ground nut, beans, tobacco, bananas, and coffee. When we questioned the family about the history of the farm and what crops were planted in which years there were many gaps in knowledge. Since Nelson Jakaa controlled the farm operation, the other members of the family did not fully understand the operations of the farm. Nelson’s death has significantly impacted the family and the productivity of the farm has declined drastically. Vital information such as market prices of crops were lost with Nelsons death.

At the farm Owen and I helped by fetching water and harvesting crops. Water was collected in jerry cans from a nearby stream which was around 800 meters away from the farm. Although there was a UN water purification dispensary by the stream, the dispensary was empty and not in use. In addition to this we taught the family how to make a compost pile. Although we constructed a compost pile the Jakaas did not seem very interested in the compost pile. Another project we worked on was creating a pesticide from locally sourced goods. We decided to make a mixture from cigarettes, chili peppers and neem leaves because each of the 3 ingredients have insect repellent properties. We grinded up the ingredients and simmered them in water. We then sprayed the mixture onto the beans to see if they repelled aphids. Sadly, none of the three treatments used showed signs of deterring aphids so the experiment was a failure.

Overall I had a positive experience with the internship. I got to experience living in rural conditions which gave me a perspective on how life would be like if I choose to work in rural settings in the future. I was also able to have hands on experience with agriculture which was a very valuable experience. A critique I have of the internship is that the farm plots showed that vermicompost and biochar was very beneficial to grow crops, although vermicompost and biochar were the two ingredients that were hard to access for the farmers. In addition to this many of the posters that were used for the presentations were not written in Swahili but written in English which could have caused some communication problems. Another factor that should be taken into consideration is the communication with the host families. I found it very difficult to get accurate information from the host families about their financial state and crop production, and the family seemed to exaggerate their hard circumstances to try and gain more financial aid from the program. When we interviewed the families the children would often make statements that contradicted the parents. I believe that the older members of the families were trying to increase their compensation by making themselves seem poorer. There was also a miscommunication on what was expected of the students on each farm. I believe that in the future it is very important to clearly communicate the objectives that must be accomplished for the students on the farm. That the students are on the farm to work, but to also learn about the agricultural practices of the farm. I noticed that some of the other students were treated poorly by their hosts and were used as laborers outside of the agricultural scope. I would recommend the internship to other students, but I believe the program could be improved to not only help the farmers but also accommodate the learning of the students.