A Would Be Farmer Comes Home

The Millennium Villages project applies scientific research, economic analysis, and international development expertise to achieve the Millennium Development Goals at the community level.  Following is a report on one Millennium Village, in Sauri, Kenya, republished with permission from www.millenniumpromise.org

In the fall of 2002, just when the short rains begin to fall in this part of western Kenya, Oscar Oure returned to live in the village he grew up in after being absent for 16 years. There are two rainy seasons in Sauri, a long and short one, and upon his return many villagers were finishing up their planting for the upcoming rains. As he moved along the uneven red clay roads surveying the households in his neighborhood, he noticed very little had changed since he had last been there. He was 36 years old, a bit nervous, but ready to begin his second career.

When Oscar first left Sauri, a village of 5,000, he was 20 years old, wide-eyed and ambitious. He was the youngest of eight children and was hopeful about the future that lay ahead of him. "I grew up in this village," he said, "this was the only home I had ever known. I wasn't frightened to leave Sauri, just unsure about what to expect." He had just finished secondary school and was eager to start a new life nearly 300 km away in Nairobi, Kenya's largest city with more than 3 million people.

He began working as a technician at a textile factory, a good stable job which he thought would last a lifetime. He developed a host of skills and quickly moved from operating machinery to manager in a few years time. While in Kenya's capital, he married and had three children. He worked 14 productive years and was unexpectedly laid off. He was set to retire and receive pension in three years.

Oscar recalled that a lot of Kenyans who are "retrenched" before they are eligible for a pension grow bitter and unwisely spend whatever severance and savings they have. "Some of my friends and colleagues made bad investments," he said. "Others wasted their lives away on alcohol and other daily whims to forget the situation they were in." But Oscar had a family to support and at the urging of his mother, he decided to return to his original home and become a farmer.

The first years back in Sauri were difficult. He had limited knowledge of good farming techniques and with another child on the way, he struggled to put food on the table. He spent his entire savings in those first couple years on land and food to feed his family.

In 2004, things quickly changed for Oscar; he joined a program under the Millennium Villages Project, where he received not only seed and fertilizer, but the technical expertise to better manage his crops to increase production. Overnight he quadrupled his yield. He also installed bednets, a key intervention under the project, in his house to prevent mosquitoes from biting his family and transmitting malaria. He gradually began to diversify his crops to include beans, vegetables, tomatoes, bananas, and livestock to go along with the staple maize.

Today Oscar now has five children -- his growing family is a testament to his newfound prosperity. Oscar, however, knows that these are only the first steps in his renewed life. He believes in the coming years that he will continue to be a farmer. "With increases in yields and food security, I can feed my family," he said. "But even more important, I can concentrate on growing other higher-valued crops to sell to markets and local companies." At 40, he is still wide-eyed and ambitious.

For more reports on Millennium Villages, visit millenniumpromise.org.