Over 100 Kenyan tobacco farmers took part in a government-backed project to plant sustainable crops instead of the more usual tobacco plants. Their first harvest so far already yielded 135 tons of high-iron beans.
Farmers have sold 135 tons of beans under the World Food Program's regional buying schemeImage: Francois Galland/Godong/picture alliance
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Some 100 Kenyan farmers were part of a pilot project to help farmers transition from tobacco to alternative food crop farming. The World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) funded the project and helped retrain the farmers.
They were given the opportunity to transform their fields from producing tobacco leaves to a myriad of crops, including corn and sweet potato.
DW's Thelma Mwadzaya, who visited the farms, says she saw sprawling vineyards alongside neat-looking homesteads. She said she had the impression that "the farmers are living under better living conditions."
"The project in Migori for the tobacco farmers is a major shift towards attaining a healthy nation, and the Ministry of Health fully supports such ventures," says Kenya's Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe.
Farmers' health is a major concern for the Kenyan government and the UN agenciesImage: Billy Mutai/Sopa/Zuma/picture alliance
Health hazards and school dropouts
Farming tobacco plants contributed less than 1% to Kenya's economic development. The farmers were further exposed to serious health risks, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, over 20 different types or subtypes of cancer, and many other debilitating health conditions, according to the WHO.
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During handwashing of tobacco leaves without protective gloves, farmers expose their skin to the highly addictive nicotine they contain.
The WHO also reports that more than 6,000 Kenyans die of tobacco-related diseases every year. The global annual death toll of 8 million deaths occurs mostly in low- and middle-income countries, which are "often the main targets of intensive tobacco industry interference and marketing," according to the global public health institution.
Most of the farmers say they were happy to move away from such health hazards and towards less labor-intensive and more environmentally friendly farming.
"My teeth have fallen out and left me in bad shape," said Patrice Chitang'ita Kisunte, a farmer from Sakuri in Kenya's southwestern Migori county.
"I advised [other farmers] to stop tobacco farming and plant other things like maize, beans and potatoes."
The health of the farmers was one of the major concerns for the Kenyan government and the three United Nations agencies. Another was mass school dropouts among farmers' children.
"When tobacco was being grown actively, there was a lot of school dropouts," says Rose Ghati, a resident and farmer in Kuria.
"They used to leave school because they know that tobacco is there and they can make money off it."
Where do your winter roses come from?
Kenya is one of the world's biggest exporters of cut flowers. But those blossoms come at a price to the environment.
Image: picture alliance/Photoshot
Bright colors
The homes near Kenya's Lake Naivasha are as colorful as the millions of flowers grown there each year. Known as the "flower bed of Africa," the area north of the country's capital, Nairobi, exports cut roses, carnations and other blooms around the world. The industry is central to the country's economy. But it has a dark side too.
Image: DW
A prime spot
Kenya is the world's fourth largest exporter of cut flowers. Fertile soil, plentiful sunshine and abundant water make Lake Naivasha the perfect spot for cultivating blossoms. Over 50 companies have set up on its shores. Chemicals and pesticides have polluted the water but the cut flower businesses say they're not to blame.
Image: picture alliance/Photoshot
Flowers versus fish
Still, in 2009, the lake nearly dried out and the fish population plummeted, thanks to flower farms on the shore, which were constantly diverting lake water to their greenhouses, according to locals. It took over a year for fish stocks to begin regenerating.
Image: DW/B. Maranga
Fishy business
Although stringent regulations were introduced for companies after 2009, local fishing communities remain suspicious of the flower businesses that have sprouted on the lake's shores. They believe that chemicals are still seeping into the water. The companies deny this, but most won't allow DW access to their greenhouses.
Image: DW
A greener flower business?
DW was allowed to visit the Oserian Flower Farm. Germany's international development agency, GIZ, advises the business on how it can make its operations greener. Oserian says it doesn't drain waste water into the lake, but reuses it in its greenhouses. It also has a "Fairtrade" label.
Image: DW
Beetles are better
The flower farm, which employs around 6,000 people, also says it uses half the industry standard amount of insecticides. They use beetles instead, like in this picture, showing an Oserian employee deploying the critters to eat any pests they may find on the roses.
Image: DW
Big in Europe
Speaking of roses, Kenyan grown ones are especially popular in the European Union where a third are bought. Most of the flowers are purchased in Germany and the United Kingdom. Although, outside of the EU, Kenyan flowers are also a favorite in the US and Russia.
Image: DW
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Markets for the goods
The UN agencies launched the Tobacco Free Farms project in Migori County with the government of Kenya to mitigate these issues. The collaboration is the first of its kind in the world.
According to the WHO, the project has seen farmers' health improve, increased school attendance amongst children previously working on the farms, and crops which are considered better for the environment replacing tobacco.
"Right now, my kids have time for homework, but during tobacco farming, they did not," said long-time tobacco grower Alice Achieng Obare, one of hundreds of farmers in Migori county who have moved away from tobacco.
Kenya used to be a major export of tobacco leavesImage: Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images
The farmers have so far sold 135 tons of beans to the WFP under its regional buying scheme.
"WFP has provided a ready market for high-iron beans and promoted good agricultural practices, nutrition sensitization and post-harvest loss training," says Simon Cammelbeeck, the managing director of the Farm to Market Alliance, another partner in the project.
Growing beans has the added advantage that they are full of iron, which is said to help counter numerous heath and development problems among children and pregnant women.
"The process used in that project is for the entire value chain, from production of what we call alternative food source to putting food on the table," says Husna Mubarak, a project officer with FAO.
"Most importantly, there's technical support, on how to till the land, plant the seeds, and most importantly provide capacity to ensure that you are able to add value to it, package it and be able to market it out."
Kenyan farmers embrace organic farming
04:47
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Knowledge transfer
Kenya had ratified the legally binding WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2004 and became the first country in the world to pilot the alternative tobacco project.
"We are encouraging the farmers to farm other cash crops," Elizabeth Robi, assistant chief of the Sakuri area in Kuria East, told DW.
"Most farmers have shifted to coffee. This is because that tobacco was affecting even the person who is not farming through inhaling that smoke. So their health has improved," she said.
The government and the three UN agencies plan to take the knowledge from the pilot project to farmers along the former tobacco belt in Kuria West.
Thelma Mwadzaya in Kenya contributed to this article.
Edited by Keith Walker
The kanga: East Africa's cultural jewel
East Africa's kangas are popular garments and a pround display of Swahili culture. Their imprints carry deeper strong meaning and the contemporary designs they inspire attract world appeal.
A rich fashion trend history
The origin of the kanga can be traced back to coastal East Africa in the mid-19th Century. It is believed that some stylish women in Zanzibar had the idea of buying printed kerchiefs in lengths of six. This was later modified into pairs. They were sewn together into single designs called 'Leso' after the square kerchiefs that had originally been brought to Africa by Portuguese traders.
Image: AramcoWorld/Samantha Reinders
A key African cloth
Kangas are known for their brightly colored designs which depict the daily livelihoods of the people. The designs vary from abstract patterns to illustration designs of birds and flowers. Currently, the popular kanga can be found in various African countries such as Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, Comoros Islands, Mozambique and Eastern DRC just to mention a few.
Image: AramcoWorld/Samantha Reinders
Inspired by a bird
The word 'kanga' originated among buyers of the new designs who needed a way to identify the cloth and chose the Swahili word for the guinea fowl, a bird with magnificent spotty plumage similar to the earliest kanga designs.
Image: AramcoWorld/Samantha Reinders
It's all in the writing
Kangas are known, not only for their elegant designs and bright colors, but also for the sayings and proverbs imprinted on them. In the early part of this century, Swahili sayings were incorporated into kanga designs. The proverb in one of the kangas pictured here translates as "The knowledge of a parent exceeds degrees".
Image: Rukia Hassan
A fashion statement
The idea of including proverbs or "jina" and "ujumbe" – or messages in Swahili – is believed to have originated from famous Mombasa trader Kaderdina Hajee Essak, known also as Abdulla. His designs are distinguished by the mark‚ K.H.E. ‘Mali ya Abdulla’. The scripts were initially in Arabic, before they were adapted to Roman letters.
Image: AramcoWorld/Samantha Reinders
An all-round season gift
Kangas are often given as gifts to women or among women. The cloth serves as symbolic gifts during marriage ceremonies in Kenya and Tanzania. Kangas are multi-purpose: men wear them and babies are wrapped in them.
Image: AramcoWorld/Samantha Reinders
Mobilizes people in East Africa
The kanga has become a means of asserting Swahili culture, mobilizing people for social and political causes through the messages they bear. The cloth that dates back to pre-colonial times, is a visible part of contemporary East Africa.
Image: Rukia Hassan
Evolution into contemporary designs
Kangas continue to epitomise the rich Swahili culture, bearing the region’s history and traditions. The cloth serves as a cultural bridge between the traditional and contemporary fashion. Designers are using the fabric as the basis of their work, keeping the kanga alive and relevant in wardrobes across the world, including that of US super star Beyonce.
