Farmers Helping Farmers is excited to be hosting a visit from two Kenyans who work on Farmers Helping Farmers projects in Kenya. The visitors are Salome Ntinyari and Douglas Gikundi M’Muguna.
“Both Salome and Gikundi work in Kenya with the Muchui Womens Group, a group of women who farm in a very dry area north of Meru in Kenya,” said Teresa Mellish, coordinator for Farmers Helping Farmers. “With matching financial support from CIDA, Farmers Helping Farmers has worked with this group for more than ten years to help them improve their food security. Farmers Helping Farmers recently installed screenhouses with drip irrigation which enable the women to produce vegetables for their families and to sell.”
Mr. M’Muguna is a trained horticulturist who provides technical advice on the production of vegetables to the 100 women who belong to the Group. He will be here until the end of August and is working on several farms to learn about production methods which could be applied in Kenya.
Ms. Ntinyari just received her degree in Business from a Kenyan university and is developing a marketing plan for the vegetables produced by the women. She will be in PEI until mid-December and will be attending the fall semester at the University of Prince Edward Island where she will take some marketing courses. She will also be working on several farms and at marketing outlets to learn more about how they market their vegetables.
“We are excited to have Ms. Ntinyari and Mr. M’Muguna as the guest speakers at our Annual General Meeting,” said Mary Nicholson, President of Farmers Helping Farmers. “Salome and Gikundi will be able to describe first-hand the impact of these projects for the women and the schools.”
The public is invited to attend the AGM and to stay for their presentations. The meeting will be held at the Farm Centre, 420 University Avenue, Charlottetown and is scheduled for Tuesday, July 30, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. and their presentations are scheduled for 8 p.m.
Salome and Gikundi will also attend the annual Farmers Helping Farmers fund raising barbecue at the Harrington Research Station on August 10th from 4-6:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 and are available from members or at the Riverview Market and the Queen Street Coop in Charlottetown. The barbecue includes steak, all you can eat salads, new potatoes and yellow beans, rolls and strawberry shortcake.
For more information, contact Teresa Mellish at 902-838-4032.