Out of Africa: Berkshire Farm Girl experiences first-hand the challenges for farmers in Kenya

It is Harvest season in the UK and farmers have access to all the latest hi-tech agricultural machinery, but, says Eleanor Gilbert, Kenyan farmers have to use their ingenuity to provide crops and feed cattle.

There has never been more interest in food and farming since Russia invaded Ukraine, threatening supplies.

The breadbasket of the world (Ukraine) supplies 30 per cent of the world’s food, particularly on the African continent, where fears are increasing that the continent may see starvation like never before.

Kenya grows many crops including tea, coffee, sugar cane, flowers, wheat, bananas and watermelons and larger farms do use drip irrigation systems to preserve water.

During a recent trip to Kenya, Eleanor was able to experience first-hand the difficulties faced by farmers in Africa and the joy of the people and how they are incredibly self-sufficient with so little.

Eleanor said: "The farm I stayed at is entirely self-sufficient, using solar power, a mini-digester for gas – this uses the manure from four cows and produces enough gas for six hours a day for cooking."

Water is pumped each day from a borehole also using solar power and milk is taken fresh from each cow daily and milking is done by hand.

She said: "Air-Spray Kenya were my hosts. Pat, Russell, Lucy, Zoe and Jack use small planes to spray crops by air. The planes have a boom underneath the wings and fly very low to the ground to provide accurate spraying.

"Plant growth regulators or herbicide applications would also be one of their services.

"It was a great honour to spend time with Pat who was so passionate about farming, and we were able to compare farming experiences at great length."

The entire farm was surrounded by electric fencing and one of the interesting things that Eleanor noticed was the height of the fences.

In Kenya, the fences are small enough that warthogs cannot enter the field, but low enough that giraffes and impala can step/jump over them, allowing wildlife to roam freely.

She was particularly impressed by the resourcefulness of the Masai tribes.

"There is no health care, homes, heating, running water – simple things we take for granted, but they are happy people always with a smile and pleased to see you.

"They can make things quickly when needed.

"One of the simplest ideas that has had such a profound impact are their shoes. They are made from old tyres with some straps stitched on and would probably last a lifetime."

There was also a change of how the land is used in this area as communities have developed around a bore hole.

"Previously the Masai would walk their cattle miles and miles each day until they found a water source and the cattle would graze en route. Now with access to a bore hole, communities are more settled and cattle are taken out for grazing, but brought back to the borehole each night."

This causes severe compaction to the land preventing any re-growth of food sources for the animals

"Cows are sacred animals and can be found wandering about the town. However, if the drought comes, they will be the first animals that fall victim to the dry spell."

She explains how farmers cope with the rain: "When the rains come, they come heavy and to prevent crop waterlogging they put contours in the field that look like small mounds, which run parallel to each other to carry off and control the water.

"There is 1.5m in between each contour and can be 500m long. They carry the water off the field this is their way of drainage as this kind of rain can result in crop lodging and failure."

As Eleanor observed farmers across the world all face different problems, but all have the same common goal to “feed the world”.