Murang’a farmers practicing agro-ecology are set to benefit from the sale of carbon credits following the entry of an agent, Now Partners Foundation that has teamed up with the county government and other stakeholders to activate carbon credit trade.
Now Partners Foundation organisation will be helping farmers adopt natural farming methodology to help them generate carbon credits for sale to earn an income.
Walter Link, the founder and executive chairperson of Now Partners Foundation who was speaking at the Muranga county headquarters after meeting various stakeholders in agro-ecology, noted that although farmers are sequestering carbon through their farming, they are not being paid for it at the moment.
He said that in addition to upscaling natural farming in the county, their partner, the Economy of Love (EoL) from Egypt will help measure carbon credits while Now Partners Foundation will help the farmers market them internationally, giving farmers additional income.
“The farmer will therefore have greater yield, more productivity through natural farming and even more income through carbon credits,” Link said.
He also noted that with natural farming the farmer will incur less costs because they will not be using expensive chemical fertilizers and pesticides adding that they will work with the farmers to find the solutions that work in their specific situations to help them generate carbon credit.
“Farmers around the world are interested in this methodology because they will be at the center of all our efforts to make life better for the farmer and their families,” Link clarified.
“The healthy nutritious foods will improve the health of the community and at the same time develop better stronger local economies and also support the national economy,” he added.
Link noted that their methodology has been successful, for instance, in partnership with the Andhra Pradesh community managed natural farming, a partnership between the government of Andhra Pradesh in India and one million small holder farmers, the farmers are achieving better yields and more income by shifting from chemical farming to organic farming, also called natural farming.
“This methodology was developed eight years ago and continues to improve bringing together the best farming approaches from around the world and testing them on the ground,” he said.
“There is a lot of innovation, so it is not going back to traditional farming but going forward to a better way of farming,” Link added.
According to Link, natural farming integrates economic success for the farmers, the communities and the country with sustainability for nature, human and social development.
“It is one system that brings together all the stakeholders: farmers, civil societies and the government and benefits them, which is what we call a good solution,” Link said adding that natural farming also benefits the natural ecosystems and the climate.
Now Partners Foundation is helping scale up natural farming around the world, what with having a presence in 25 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Link further said that they hope to adapt this methodology with respect to the local conditions taking into account diversity of the stakeholders.
“We have to be respectful not only of the climate and the soil but also of the cultures of the people involved,” he said.
Link applauded the existing agro-ecology policy and strategy of Murang’a County and the governor’s support saying he is putting the farmer and communities at the center through supporting production of healthy food.
Murang’a County County Executive in-charge of Devolution, External linkages and Partnerships, Kiringai Kamau, welcomed the partnership with Now Partners Foundation saying they will be working with the other partners already involved in agro-ecology in the county.
He stated that the county is interested in growing the numbers of farmers practicing natural farming and aims to be the example in Kenya and Africa.
“We have the confidence we will manage this because we have the law and the policy to guide the partnership,” CECM Kamau said.
“With the support of the stake holders already working in the county we have reached a point where stakeholders at the global level have started taking note of the work we are doing,” Kamau added.
The CECM reaffirmed that the county will be supporting the Now Partners Foundation in their endeavors.
“We will walk with our farmers, our stakeholders, partners and with the county government holding each other to reach every farmer in every ward in the county,” he said.
Kamau also noted that the concerted efforts will not be targeting any particular value chain or crop and said diversity in production is important.
“If your anchor crop is tea, there are other food-based crops you can grow there, same thing with coffee and other crops,” he pointed out.
Martin Muriuki, Director, Institute for Culture and Ecology (ICE), said that they would be working together with all other stakeholders to find ways to empower and involve young people in agriculture and agro-ecology in various capacities.
“We now want to involve and empower young people because Murang’a is the only county with a policy and a law that recognizes agro-ecology,” Muriuki said.
He noted that the new partnership with Now Partners is a welcome addition and as stakeholders they look forward to even more local and international partners working with them to promote the growing and consumption of healthy food grown without the use of agrochemicals.
By Purity Mugo
