"The goal is to make the small farms sustainable for a long period of time. This way the farmers don’t have to go to outside sources and purchase materials because they can provide them themselves." - Wanambisi Wesakania
Scenes of colorful gardens and sun-scorched orange land dotted with crisp trees fade slowly into each other on Wanambisi Wesakania’s laptop. The pictures show Wesakania in his village of Kesogon, Kenya, a town of about 5,000. He’s in Bellingham now, finalizing his geography degree at Western Washington University and looking for a job so he can go home.
"I need $50,000 for funds and an air ticket or a tractor," Wesakania, 44, said in his dense rhythmic accent.
The funds would go to Eco-Garden, an organization he started two decades ago in Kesogon. The title stands for environmental conservation and organic gardening. Eco-Garden in its physical state is a true garden, filled with trees, corn, indigenous forests and other vegetation, Wesakania said. The 7.5-acre organic farm doesn’t uses synthetic sprays or enhancers, he said. But Wesakania said he is most focused on how Eco-Garden members can teach the small-scale farmers of Kenya how to make the most of the land they have by using organic farming techniques and preventative measures to maintain it.
"The goal is to make the small farms sustainable for a long period of time," Wesakania said. "This way the farmers don’t have to go to outside sources and purchase materials because they can provide them themselves."
In Kenya, soil erosion is a serious problem among farmers, Wesakania said. Many farmers didn’t understand the value of the terraces built by colonial farmers settling in Kenya, so they destroyed them. Further, the government of Kenya doesn’t extend sufficient agricultural support to maintain the land, Wesakania said. Instead, soil washes down the sloped land and piles up on roads and against walls, effectively removing any chance of soil enrichment.
Eco-Garden teaches methods of soil erosion prevention like terracing. Farmers make curved steps to slow the water and make the soil stay put on the slopes, Wesakania said.
The organization also teaches farmers to re-plow and recycle their unused plant matter back into the ground instead of burning it. This creates a natural fertilizer and enriches the soil.
"The most important thing is feeding the soil," Wesakania said. "The soil will feed the crop, the crop feeds the human and that is why we do organic farming."
Eco-Garden provides seeds to farmers to plant organic tomatoes, pumpkins, squash, millet, bananas, guava and more, Wesakania said. The organization encourages them to slowly enrich the soil on their farms instead of using quick fixes like synthetic sprays and fertilizers. Those products may work at first, Wesakania said, but they do not last.
The Beginning of a Mission
When Wesakania completed high school in a town two hours from his village, he returned to find nearly all of the forests gone, he said. The mushrooms he used to dig for food had all but vanished. He wondered why. Wesakania began listening to the radio, using his talent for language (he knows five) to soak in the information from programs such as Washington D.C.’s "Voice of America" and Germany’s "Man and the Environment," he said.
"At first I didn’t realize what was a Third World, Second World, First World country," Wesakania said. "And then I realized, I am in a Third World country that all these programs talk about that are not well-managing their environment."
In Kesogon, like many villages in Kenya, grass houses shelter the people. Electricity and indoor plumbing are uncommon, and families depend on their gardens and animals for food. Wesakania said he identified the problems he heard on the radio in his own community. He decided then, in 1982, to try and change farming in a way that would sustain the land for prolonged use and prevent as much damage as possible to the surrounding environment, he said.
He began by starting a tree nursery, planting seedlings and recruiting young people to help teach the local farmers about efficient farming, but found he lacked the technical knowledge needed to truly make an impact on the farmers or speak with any type of authority, he said.
Undeterred and still focused on his mission, in 1993 Wesakania said he sold his family’s only milking cow — the equivalent to selling a family car — so he could pay for one quarter of a two-year college program at the Manor House Agricultural Center in Kenya. He left behind his wife, 2-year-old daughter Elly and 1-year-old son Jackson to attend the program.
"He has been here at great personal sacrifice," said Tim Costello, a friend of Wesakania and an interim director with the Slum Doctor Programme, an organization that helps Africans with AIDS.
Wesakania said he wanted to return with enough knowledge to influence the small-scale farmers who owned acre or half-acre plots of land. These small plots of land can use the labor-intensive techniques of organic farming more easily than larger corporate farms and could make a visible difference in the community.
After the two-year program at the Manor House, Wesakania said he decided he needed more knowledge to add depth to the practices of Eco-Garden and the skills of its employees.
He moved to Bellingham to attend Western in 2000 after being one of seven students granted the Sidney MacIntyre Jr. scholarship, worth $25,000 towards a four-year university. Western accepted him first, so he went, Wesakania said.
"Wanambisi is one of the most motivated students I’ve ever met," said John McLaughlin, associate professor of environmental studies at Western’s Huxley College and professor of Wanambisi’s ecology class. "He was never satisfied with one answer — he always wanted to learn more deeply."
Wesakania sent every extra bit of money he had through his five years of schooling back home so his young recruits at Eco-Garden could attend the Manor House school. By 2004, Wesakania said he had financed five volunteers through the program.
Wesakania said he is looking for work and people willing to donate to Eco-Garden. He said most of his money is spent on long-distance phone calls back to his family, and uses what he has left to support himself. As soon as he returns to Kesogon, Wesakania will serve as head coordinator of Eco-Garden and will teach the methods of organic farming, which more than 500 farmers in his community have already adopted.
"(Wanambisi) has always been very enterprising and holistic in his approach," said Sandra Mardigian, director of the Kilili Self Help Project. "He has a big perspective."
When he returns to Kenya, Wesakania said he is anxious to teach the volunteers at Eco-Garden computer skills that are virtually non-existent in Kesogon. He said he would like to be able to educate using techniques like PowerPoint presentations and diagrams on computers. He said he is excited to return and be a hands-on part of the changes in Kenya once again.
"It’s really working," Wesakania said. "We are even starting to see forests again."