Access to safe food, clean water, and adequate nutrition as the foundation of human security and sustainable development. CARE Kenya ensures households have reliable access to nutritious food through climate-smart agriculture, resilient livelihoods, agribusiness development, and integrated nutrition programs.
Farmer Field and Business Schools
Scaling Up Farmer Field and Business Schools (FFBS)
Project Targets
The FFBS project targeted smallholder farmers in Sorghum, Groundnuts and nutritious vegetable value chains in Homabay County, providing extension services in partnership with the County ministry of Agriculture, engaging the private sector actors to scale farm mechanization services (Hello tractor), soil testing services (Ujuzikilimo ltd), resilient irrigated agriculture (Kickstart International).
Equally the project organized producer groups into 3 viable marketing cooperatives, as produce aggregation points, platform for market actors’ engagement, and a collective business transaction hub for members. the restrictive social norms that impede women access to and ownership of productive assets.
Key Approaches
Farmer Field and Business Schools (FFBS): seasonal, hands-on learning combining agronomic practices, business skills, and climate-smart technologies.
Producer group strengthening organising farmers into viable marketing cooperatives as produce aggregation points and collective business hubs.
Private sector engagement: linking farmers to mechanisation (Hello Tractor), soil testing (Ujuzikilimo), and irrigation (KickStart International) services.
Digital solutions: scaling use of digital platforms for market information, extension services, and farm mechanisation.
Biological technology scaling: NEMIX®C introduction on sugarcane, potatoes, maize, and flowers to reduce input costs and improve yields sustainably.
Theory of Change
When smallholder farmers — especially women — gain access to improved technologies, market systems, and financial services through FFBS, their productivity increases, food losses decrease, and incomes rise. Strengthened producer cooperatives create economies of scale, enabling access to mechanisation and market linkages that individual farmers could not achieve alone. The result is improved food security, climate resilience, and sustainable household economic growth.
Key Results & Achievements
Farmers invested KES 3,242,870 (USD 20,268) in farm mechanisation services.
Household coping strategy index (food insecurity) reduced by 48%.
One cooperative (21 FFBS producer groups) acquired a tractor via PAYGO, now offering community mechanisation services.
46%
Annual Average Household Income Increase.
27%
Food Loss Reduction
25%
Sorghum productivity increase in 2024.
Partner With Us
For more information and to learn more about partnership opportunities, contact CARE Kenya by completing our interest form.