BARINGO, Kenya – Picture this: a student picking a mango from a tree that they planted or a family selling oranges grown in their backyard.
This is the dream and hope of First Lady Mama Rachel Ruto as she moves to successfully implement her Mama Kitchen Garden Program, a transformative initiative that empowers households across the country to adopt sustainable, innovative farming technologies, ensuring access to nutritious meals while fostering self-reliance.
According to the First Lady, this significant move, recently launched at the Agricultural Training College (ATC) in Baringo County, is geared towards strengthening national food security and empowering local communities to improve nutrition.
“This has greatly informed our model that will see the kitchen gardens set up in schools and homes as a collaboration between parents, learners, and their schools. You cannot teach a hungry child. Hunger and malnutrition are not merely health issues. They are barriers to learning, obstacles to development, and roadblocks to prosperity. This is the bigger picture that we are focused on to see every child in Kenya well fed,” said the First Lady.
The ambitious project further seeks to enhance the acquisition of food at a household level, particularly in Kenyan rural communities, which are vulnerable to hunger, lack of water, and acute malnutrition among young children.
The First Lady says that her mission in the next five years is to empower women in order to promote sustainable agricultural practices, lower malnutrition levels, and create wealth at the household level.
How the ongoing Mama Kitchen Garden Program is being implemented
So far, the program has been implemented in 21 counties with a focus on women and schools, with a few of them who have the capacity and resources already supplementing their school feeding program.
“In the eight-month pilot phase of this Mama Kitchen Garden, we have started building resilient households, schools, and communities since most of them have grown indigenous vegetables such as kale, Amaranth leaves, black nightshade, Cowpeas and a variety of fruit trees, among others, an important component in not only addressing food security but also contributing to tackling the effects of food security,” She explained.
Based on the recent Demographic and Health Survey carried out by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), 30% of Kenya’s population is food insecure, and a high number of stunted children aged between six and 59 months, some up to 40.1%, are in areas like Tiaty, while other areas like Baringo South are 28.1%.
Mrs. Ruto added that hunger and malnutrition are not merely health issues but rather barriers to learning, obstacles to development, and roadblocks to prosperity.
“We are on a mission to give mothers the power to increase the household vegetable intake level by empowering Kenyan women to establish a thriving kitchen garden for their families. This will give every woman pride and joy that truly counts by knowing that your family is well fed. A critical learning from the pilot phase is the success that comes when communities, educators, and partners join hands with purpose,” added the First Lady.
In support of this program, the county government of Baringo allocated Sh400 million to the department of Agriculture, Livestock, and the Blue Economy and provided extension services in schools and organised groups dealing with the project.
“Your thoughtful selection of Baringo, an arid and semi-arid county, is the venue of this launch; it demonstrates a deep understanding of the climate challenges faced by our vulnerable communities. It also speaks to the urgent need for inclusive, grassroots-based resilience-building programs. I am pleased to know that the conservation hub of his program aims to contribute over 500 million to the national 15 billion tree-growing campaign by 2032,” said Dr. Deborah Barasa, Cabinet Secretary, Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry.
Why the Mama Kitchen Garden Program aligns with the president’s aspirations
Dr. Barasa reiterated that the Mama Kitchen Garden Program is aligned with Kenya’s national aspirations and international commitment.
“It supports the SDGs 1 and 2, ending poverty and zero hunger, and is a clear manifestation of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) of President William Ruto,” added Dr. Barasa.
The CS disclosed that 30% of the trees that will be grown will be fruit trees, and this is in partnership with the First Lady, County First Spouses, associations, and women’s groups in the counties through the agricultural value chains and nutritional products from fruits and botanical products from indigenous trees.
The First Lady also revealed that they are planting fruit trees alongside these gardens.
“The trees will stand as a living legacy, supplementing fruit intake for students for years to come,” she stated.
Meanwhile, partners and stakeholders have been urged to prioritise Mama Kitchen Garden by providing funds, technical skills, and farm inputs.
