by Abby Youngblood

I have now spent four months in Kenya exploring the organic farming movement here. My work in Kenya is part of a 12-month project to learn about sustainable agriculture and food security in Kenya, India, and Russia. I am one of 60 recent college graduates sponsored by the Watson Foundation to carry out an independent project in different parts of the world.

I trace my beginnings in organic farming to Maysie's Farm, where I worked as a farm intern from August until October of 1999. Since this time, my interest in organic farming and issues surrounding agriculture has continues to grow. I completed a degree in physics at Bryn Mawr College near Philadelphia in the spring of 2001, but my passion is to pursue organic farming and environmental education. I am about one-third of the way through my project now and I am having an incredible experience.

Can organic farming really provide enough food to feed the earth's six billion people? Does organic farming and sustainable agriculture benefit farmers in developing countries? How are farmers confronting challenging issues such as population increases, decreasing soil fertility, economic collapse, and new trade rules? How are farmers responding to new technologies, in particular genetically modified seeds? What is life like in rural villages and farming communities in the developing world?

These are some of the questions I set out to explore during my twelve-month project. I am continually learning more about these complex issues and I've learned that anyone can be your teacher‹maybe it's the taxi driver, the shopkeeper, a child, or the village elder. You can learn something from every person you meet.

Kenya is a friendly country and I have found the Kenyan people to be very generous and warm. I have spent most of my time working with three organizations‹the Ugunja Community Resource Center, the Manor House Agricultural Centre, and the Kenya Institute of Organic Farming. In addition, I have visited and worked with individual farmers. The Ugunja Community Resource Center (UCRC) is a small, community-based organization in the Siaya District of Western Kenya. I spent about two months working with the Food Security department at UCRC. During this time I lived in a Luo village in a mud hut with a thatched roof. A piece of my heart is still with the Luo people in Ugunja.

The Manor House Agricultural Centre (MHAC) is a training institute, located near Kitale in the Trans Nzoia District of Kenya, which promotes biointensive agriculture. For those of you who are not familiar with it, the core techniques of biointensive agriculture are double-digging and composting. MHAC has ties to John Jeavons and Ecology Action in California and is credited with starting the sustainable agriculture movement here in Kenya. The organization was founded in 1984.

The Kenya Institute of Organic Farming (KIOF) is also a training institute in the central highlands of Kenya, an area that is populated primarily by Kikuyu people. The techniques promoted by KIOF are a little bit broader than those of biointensive agriculture‹in addition to double-digging and composting, KIOF teaches farmers how to plant 9 maize seeds per hole, how to make plant tea and liquid manure, fertility trenches, ridges and furrows, basket compost, mandala gardens, rope and washer pumps, mole smokers, and solar driers. I plan to introduce some of these techniques to American farmers! I am currently working with KIOF and still learning more about the organization. During my stay here, I will have the opportunity to attend a conference, organized by KIOF and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), to discuss the organic certification process and organic standards in Africa. It's exciting stuff!

Wish List Looking to get rid of any of the following items? Maysie's Farm will put them to good use! Clean topsoil Mulch chopper Picnic table Walkie talkie set (4) Nyger thistle birdfeed Manure spreader Large baking pans Please contact Sam at (610) 458-8129 or sam@maysiesfarm.org.

So what have I learned during my time here in Kenya? First and foremost, organic farming really is relevant and in fact critical for farmers in Kenya. The population is continuing to grow and land is being subdivided further and further. So most farmers now have very small plots of land on which to work. This is exactly the situation where biointensive agriculture is necessary. Most farmers cannot possibly afford to buy chemical fertilizers, hybrid seeds, and other expensive inputs, so they are organic farmers by economic necessity. The soil fertility continues to decrease, so farmers must find a way to produce a lot of food on a small piece of land sustainably. And there are very few tractors, irrigation systems, and other industrialized forms of agriculture here in Kenya, so organic farming is often the most efficient system available to Kenyan farmers.

The success of organic farming is that it is an appropriate technology for small farmers. The Green Revolution technologies have failed here in a big way, because neither are they sustainable nor affordable for African farmers. Based on my experiences, I believe that food security can increase dramatically after a farmer adopts organic farming techniques. But organic farming is not enoughŠit is hard to practice organic farming if you do not have water (African women often walk for miles to collect water). The market for organic food is practically nonexistent in Kenya. How can you possibly pay extra for organic food when you are just trying to obtain enough food to survive? In addition, there are no organic standards here in Kenya and organic certification is incredibly expensive, so it is difficult for Kenyan farmers to export produce to foreign markets.

The political situation in Kenya also creates difficulties for Kenyan farmers. Most of the money allocated to farmers never reaches the intended beneficiaries due to corruption. Roads are in disrepair and communication is extremely difficult, making it hard to access urban markets within the country. Finally, international trade rules make it very difficult for Kenyan farmers to survive. The prices for coffee, tea, and maize have dropped dramatically and for a country like Kenya, where 80% of the population is dependent on agriculture, this has limited economic opportunities and caused a lot of suffering and hunger.

So in addition to organic farming, we must continue to work for social justice, fair trade, and democratic and accountable governments. As Americans, we are people of privilege and we must use our privilege to create a more equitable world. I believe that each of us can find a way to utilize our skills and talents to work for social justice and a world where everyone has enough to eat. For me, I hope that I can do so by improving my skills as an organic farmer and then teaching others. I have also discovered that I enjoy meeting new people and connecting people to one another. I have established a small network of organic farmers‹I'm calling it the Worldwide Grassroots Network of Organic Farmers (WGNOF). My hope is that I can stay in touch with this group of committed farmers and also facilitate opportunities to communicate, share ideas, and exchange visits among farmers in this network.

If you are interested in learning more about my project, please contact me via e-mail at abby_youngblood@yahoo.com. (Please be patient if I do not reply immediately.) I continue on to India in January. Stay tuned for my next installmentŠ

Do you know people who may be interested in becoming Maysie's Farm shareholders? Please encourage them to attend our midwinter membership meeting for more information! The meeting will take place on Saturday, February 16, 2002 at 10:00am at St. Andrew's Church, right up the road from Maysie's Farm. We hope to see you there!

Please use the application form (which can be printed out from here, or you may use the copy you received in the mail) to reserve your shares at Maysie's Farm for the 2002 season. Mail it in today, or bring it with you to the membership meeting on February 16.

By Dave Newton, Education Coordinator

As reported in our October newsletter, Maysie's Farm Conservation Center has received a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Growing Greener grant to fund a two-year educational campaign on non-point source pollution and how we can reduce or eliminate it. In this article, I will describe the sources in our area that we will be focusing on in our campaign.

RESIDENTIAL/COMMERCIAL/INSTITUTIONAL LAND USES: All of these "development" land uses have several characteristics in common. First, they tend to have large areas of impervious surfaces such as roofs, parking lots, driveways, and sidewalks. Whenever rain or other precipitation runs off these surfaces, it carries with it any contaminants that may be there. These contaminants or pollutants can include automobile fluids such as oil and gasoline, deicing chemicals such as salt, pet animal wastes, litter, and other potentially harmful materials. The stormwater runoff often flows into drains that may empty directly into streams and lakes. Most of these chemicals can poison aquatic life, degrade water quality, and spread harmful bacteria and viruses.

Also, these "development" land uses contain lawns and other landscaped areas that are usually treated heavily with herbicides, pesticides, and commercial synthetic fertilizers. These harmful chemicals can dissolve in rainwater and be carried off in the stormwater into the drains that flow into streams. The pesticides can poison aquatic life and the nitrogen in the fertilizer can cause the growth of unwanted vegetation and advance the aging and eutrophication of the water bodies. In addition, rain and snow can erode exposed, unvegetated soils (particularly at bulldozed construction sites) and carry the sediment into streams. The sediment degrades the quality of the water in the stream and smothers the streambed, killing aquatic life.

Finally, there are the chemicals used to melt snow and ice from sidewalks, driveways, parking lots and streets. Sodium chloride ­ salt ­ is the most commonly used material which, besides melting snow and ice, can contaminate the soil and water, damage vegetation, and cause severe rusting of some metals.

There are several things that can be done to reduce or eliminate these problems. The environmental risks associated with lawn chemicals can be corrected by discontinuing the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Lawns and other landscaped areas can be effectively managed and maintained by using non-chemical measures and Integrated Pest Management practices.

Where soil has been exposed during construction or by other actions, immediate grading and revegetation will reduce the likelihood of stormwater carrying the sediment away. In some cases, it may be necessary to install temporary or permanent physical barriers to prevent the movement of the soil.

To minimize the flow of stormwater from land surfaces, the area covered with impervious paving and with lawn should be minimized. Furthermore, swales, terraces, and stormwater catchment basins can be constructed to retain the water and allow it to seep into the soil. Replacing lawn grasses with shrubs, trees, and other large vegetation also helps because these can intercept and absorb the water much better than short lawn grasses.

If it is absolutely necessary to use a deicing chemical, use calcium, rather than sodium, chloride. It costs a bit more but does much less damage to the environment. Or try one of the new deicers made of natural grain juices recovered from natural byproducts (such as Bare Ground Anti-Snow/De-Icer) that sink down to the pavement and dissolve the bond that holds snow or ice to the surface.

AGRICULTURAL LAND USES: Nearly all conventional agricultural operations use large quantities of chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. These can leach through the soil and contaminate groundwater or be carried by stormwater into streams and lakes. These chemicals also kill many soil microorganisms, making the soil less healthy, less stable and more prone to erosion.

Soil erosion can be reduced significantly by planting crops parallel to the land contours, by using minimum-tillage methods (in which there is very little disturbance of the soil rather than plowing and exposing all of the soil), by avoiding compaction of the soil, and by planting cover crops on fields after harvesting the crops. Diversifying and rotating crops maintains soil nutrients and soil structure much better than monocropping does. The bottom line is that organic agriculture, with its emphasis on "Growing Healthy Soil," creates a healthy, stable, well-protected soil that resists erosion and does not contribute pollutants to waterways.

On farms where livestock are raised, the large quantity of manure can be a serious threat to water quality. It must be collected, stored or composted, and spread on fields carefully under appropriate conditions. Livestock should also be kept away from streams and other bodies of water by fencing.

HAZARDOUS HOUSEHOLD CHEMICALS are another very serious cause of water contamination. People use a lot of poisons around the home and many of these can end up on the ground or in the sewer. Among these chemicals are various cleaners and solvents, pesticides of all kinds, paints and polishes, and automotive fluids.

The best way to prevent these from becoming non-point sources of pollution is to not use them. Other, less hazardous alternatives include planting native vegetation, applying natural compost to the soil, leaving grass clippings on the lawn, using nonpoisonous cleaners, and employing natural pest control practices. Also, the careful collection of all automotive fluids in containers and the taking of these to an approved garage or recycling center will ensure that they don't contaminate the environment.

ON-SITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEMS are yet another important potential non-point source of pollution. These are the septic systems that are installed at most rural houses and businesses. Systems that are constructed too close to a stream, lake, or groundwater reservoir can cause serious water pollution. Furthermore, systems that are not maintained properly can malfunction and cause sewage to overflow.

Tanks should be inspected and pumped out at regular intervals ­ usually every couple of years ­ to remove accumulated solids that might be carried into the drain field. The area of the drain field should also be inspected to detect any sewage that might be coming to the surface. Repairs to any damaged or malfunctioning system should be made immediately. Finally, harsh and hazardous chemicals, including acids and alkalis, pesticides, and solvents, should not be dumped into the drains that empty into the septic tank since they kill the microorganisms responsible for decomposing the waste.

So there we have a brief description of the major sources of non-point source pollution. There are, of course, other non-point sources that we haven't described and won't be addressing in our program, such as the Canada goose waste problem, highway deicing, and certain industrial operations. While the control or elimination of some non-point sources may require the action of government agencies and land developers, they all can be reduced to some extent by each and every one of us. We all contribute to non-point source pollution by the materials we use, the cars we drive, the homes we maintain, the wastes we produce, the lifestyles we adopt.

In the coming months, we'll be sharing more information about non-point sources and the things we can all do to help reduce and eliminate them. We hope you'll join us in this important undertaking.