As Kenya is facing severe food shortage, what do you think? August 3, 2011

Dear all,
I had carried my own self driven research on food and sustainability for livelihood and food security.
I have found that having a mini truck or pick up van can help in ferrying of bananas, groundnuts, onions, beans, peas etc from agriculturally productive areas such as Kisii, Oyugis, Rongo to Rusinga Island to feed the community. A group of women as been doing this at a small scale but the draught is prolonged and worrying here.
The children are not getting food and this have interfered with their learning and education for two years.
If someone willing to donate an oven for home bread or a butter peanut processing machine can help. As a matter urgency famine is devastating. The butter peanut or bread can be supplied to the nearest mushrooming centers or fish landing bay centeters.
If somebody desiring and willling could help Kawala women development community organization to address the devastating food shortage.
You can channel your dear gritude to help need children disabled, orphans or vulnerable through friends of Rusinga at;
www.friendsofrusingaisland.org,
your help in a million way and this will be a blessing, you can donate, contribute, and help, however little as 10$ or 100$ as you desire.
Get up and donate something for a dieing child, aged person from hunger. Let's join hands for a sustained living, there is severe famine at the 'Horn of Africa' and 10 million people are starving!
It is pathetic and hard! I am a Dadamac Collaborator in Kenya.
Your response will be a blessing, keep in touch.
Samwel.

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background

• Introducing Samwel - http://www.dadamac.net/network/samwel-kongere
  
• The start of this story - My friend Samwel has shared a problem - how should I respond?        http://dadamac.posterous.com/my-friend-samwel-has-shared-a-problem-how-sho

My reply and questions to Samwel:

Dear Sam

I have many questions in my mind. I do not expect you to answer each question like in an exam - but I will share them with you so you understand my ignorance and confusion. Perhaps you can write to me again to help me get a clearer picture.

How would this work in practice? Does it build on your previous plan of bringing in the food for the women petty traders  to resell?

Regarding the petty traders. I understand that you are successfully using the money you were given before (which was something around £200). That money enabled you to kick start your project of bringing in more food supplies from outside Rusinga Island. The petty traders were able to take the food to sell in the market at a profit. Then at the end of the day they were able to pay back the original cost of of the food they had been selling. With that money the minivan was able to make another trip to buy more supplies. This is what I understand about the plan. And I imagine it is that kick-start money of around £200 that is enabling the  "help in ferrying of bananas, groundnuts, onions, beans, peas etc from agriculturally productive areas such as Kisii, Oyugis, Rongo to Rusinga Island to feed the community."

So it seems that was a good idea.

Now what about the plan for the oven and the peanut butter processing machine? How does that help to make some difference to the problem of local food supplies? What happens with bread now? Would it be cheaper with this new oven? Is it hard to get bread - but easier to get the ingredients to bake bread? What of the peanuts? Why is it helpful to have a peanut butter processing machine? I know that "peanuts" and "groundnuts" are two names for the same crop. Would you bring in more groundnuts using the minivan? Why is it better to change the groundnuts into peanut butter instead of just having them as groundnuts? I can remember buying groundnuts in Nigeria that went mouldy very quickly. I wonder if peanut butter lasts longer of something.

I understand how the economics works with the petty traders and the minivan. How will the economics work with the oven and the peanut butter processing machine? Would money for the oven and the processing machine be passed on as loan or a gift.  Who will the equipment belong to?  Will it be shared by a group of people? Will it be the start of a profitable business for someone. If the money was a loan to start a profitable business for someone then perhaps in the future the the money for the equipment could be paid back and lent to someone else. Or perhaps the oven is needed as a gift to the community so that there is bread. You know these things. They are a mystery to me, and perhaps to other people who read your email. From a distance it is hard to know - is it more useful to help with the oven etc, or is more useful to give money to Oxfam.  I think the money you had for the minivan has been very useful with you because it has been used over and over and over again.

Can you tell us the approximate price of an oven and of a peanut butter processing machine? If you only had money for one - which would be most important and why? If there is money is it best to buy this equipment or would it be better to give more money to the minivan scheme so that the petty traders have more food to sell in the market? How do people get money to buy the food now that people who were farming cannot harvest crops of keep animals like they used to do?

Sam I think your last plan was a very good one. I imagine this is a good one too. I am sorry for so many questions, but it is hard to imagine how things work from a distance. Let us see if together we can help to share a clear picture of this plan and maybe make it happen..

Pam