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Home >
Background >
Achievements:
Photos & Examples
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The fattening
of cattle has proven to be the most
profitable way to generate income on
reclaimed fields
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Case Example: Between June and
August 2005 the Chebirrebei shareholder
group purchased 47 bulls for Ksh 365,380 to
fatten on their communal fields totaling 340
acres. In November they sold 46 bulls for
Ksh 470,500 including expenses, realising a
profit of Ksh 104,520 with the one remaining
weak bull grazing outside the field. During
the year the group also leased portions of
their fields to the community for dry season
grazing, earning Ksh 9,050. By the end of
2005, Ksh 430,000 remained in the group's
account after honouring various large
payments, including paying back RAE the
remaining balance of the original Ksh
100,000 loan, and paying a Ksh 5,000
dividend to each of its 10 members.
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Women's groups
reap multiple benefits from reclaimed fields
such as thatching grass, now a rare
commodity in the Baringo lowlands and needed
fro roofing homes
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Case Example: In April 2002, the
community agreed to let The Naitemu
Women’s Group manage 95 acres of their
reclaimed communal land. With shares from
the original 39 members of Ksh 10,000, and a
RAE loan of Ksh 40,000, the women purchased
their first 50 shoats for fattening. After 9
months a turnover of Ksh 77,500 was realised,
and the women purchased 15 thin bulls during
the dry season of 2003. After fattening them
on their field, the bulls were sold for Ksh
153,900, and the women bought another 21
bulls in 2004. These were sold and another
21 bulls bought in 2005, which were in turn
sold for Ksh 200,000.
Over 2005, the women also carried out
multiple income generating activities,
including cutting 146 backloads of thatching
grass, selling at Ksh 50 each; pressing 9
bales of hay manually, Ksh 150 each;
harvesting over 1 tonne of grass seed, sold
for Ksh 40,400; cutting 200 posts, sold for
Ksh 10,000; collecting 53 kgs honey, sold
for Ksh 6,360. Profits from these income
generating activities have gone directly to
the women and their group account, which
held Ksh 277,218 by early 2006.
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A reclaimed private
field can greatly enhance a family's income
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Case Example: Jonathan’Porkolwa's
grass field of 4 acres was reclaimed by RAE
in March 2004, after the Opuntia
fence he planted two years earlier was well
established. The field is managed on a
day-to-day basis by family members,
especially his wife, as Jonathon carries out
other business elsewhere. His wife, Lila, is
proud to explain how the field has eased her
workload, particularly as she can stay
nearer home while looking after small stock.
During 2005, the family fattened 30 goats
and 8 bulls in about three months. Jonathon
bought the 30 goats for Ksh 22,500 and sold
them for 33,000, making a profit of Ksh
10,500. The 8 bulls were purchased for Ksh
52,000 and sold for Ksh 68,000 realising a
profit of Ksh 16,000. The family also
harvested 38 kilos of grass seed, earning
them Ksh 1,520. Another benefit was grazing
milk cows on the field, which increased the
amount of much needed milk for the family.
Over 2005, the Parkolwa family earned a
total cash profit of Ksh 28,020, in addition
to other benefits, from their once degraded
4 acre plot.
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Mwalimu,
RAE's teacher bull eating 'cactus'
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"Mwalimu", the teacher bull':
Mwalimu, KiSawahili for
teacher, is RAE's bull that has taught other
cattle to eat Opuntia ('cactus') in
times of severe drought. Mwalimu
began teaching cattle in the Baringo
lowlands to eat Opuntia during the
severe drought of 1999 - 2000 when cattle
died in large numbers and famine was
widespread. Opuntia which is common
on the lowlands, is a nutritious fodder
species, but needs careful preparation by
burning off its thorns. Baringo cattle
refused to eat Opuntia until they saw
Mwalimu eating it, and learned by
example. During droughts, Mwalimu
goes from one homestead to another teaching
herds of cattle how to eat Opuntia,
thereby saving hundreds of cattle and people
from starvation. The cutting and use of Opuntia
is also important in controlling the
species, used as an effective live fence,
but fast becoming a weed in the degraded
Baringo lowlands.
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