A small team from Agri-Stewards of Lebanon, Ind., returned to Kenya recently for 10 days to assist with the farming operations at Missions of Hope’s (MOHI) Girls School at Joska.

Brian Smith of Agri-Stewards and Karen Thompson, Senior Research Associate for Pioneer, were very encouraged to see the progress and production that had occurred over the past six months.

“John Wamui Kinyajui, the farm attendant, and his team of workers have been working hard,” said Brian. “We were amazed to see how much spinach was harvested over the 10 days we were with them. The sweet potato patch looks to be quite productive, as well.”

Here are the areas where Agri-Stewards concentrated its work at Joska:

• Hoop houses (greenhouses)   The sun and wind have been hard on the four hoop houses over the past five years. Three days were spent working with the farm team installing upgrades on two of the houses. They also were able to improve the irrigation system because the property now has electricity. They deleted the old bag tanks, improved the water pressure and installed overhead sprinklers to cool the hoop houses during the heat of the day.

• Keeping records   Karen Thompson spent a great deal of time mapping and measuring the Joska farm, which will improve data collection. The team also met with the MOHI accounting team to update and streamline the farm crop sales records. John Kinyajui will also begin keeping planting/harvesting records at the farm, which will make it easier to plan what crops to grow in the future.

• Teaching “Farming God’s Way”   Pius Mutie, the lead FGW trainer for Kenya, joined the team for three days of teaching in the classroom and in the fields. Students included MOHI staff and five members of the local church at Joska. They were very excited about planting a 20-by-20-meter demonstration plot on the church property so the community can learn about “Farming God’s Way.” 

“Agri-Stewards has been working at Joska since January 2011,” said Brian Smith. “We are excited that we are gaining momentum, and blessed by seeing how ‘Farming God’s Way’ is continuing to grow in this region.”