Ndalo Heritage Trust

My professional background is in Public Health Nutrition. I also have a Master of Science Degree in Dietetics where I have specialized in maternal infant and young child nutrition domain. For more than 6 years, I have worked with local and international stakeholders in the nutrition and food systems to help alleviate malnutrition, human suffering, hunger and disease among preschool children in underprivileged communities of Africa. I have interest in innovative approaches to behavior change communication in addressing stunting, wasting, underweight and other nutrition related problems in populations with devastating levels of poverty and inequality. I also have interest in research to establish strategies for promoting food security through sustainable earth stewardship. I am currently the Founder and Executive Director of Ndalo Heritage; a non profit organization in Kenya supporting the UN SDG 2 campaign and SDG 3 through human scale development during the first 1000 days of life. 

My project Udonga kwa Maisha (UKM) Soil for Life at Ndalo Heritage Trust aims to provide university students and the communities in which they are situated with agricultural opportunities which not only foster hands on learning for the students increasing their employability but also provides the communities themselves with viable and guaranteed business initiatives, and we do all of this from a foundation of sustainable earth-stewardship. The Joint Initiative University Linked AgriPark Business Enterprise is committed to establishing and growing a commercially viable agribusiness which will support sustainable change in the ecology, economic and social indicators within the community. Sustainable value chains have significant impacts on food systems through enhancing economic sustainability by creating added value (higher incomes), social sustainability by facilitating more equitable distribution of added value among stakeholders, and environmental sustainability by reducing ecological footprints throughout the value chain

The fisheries and aquaculture sectors contribute about 0.8% to GDP, providing direct employment opportunities to over 500,000 people and indirectly supporting over 2M people in Kenya. Western Kenya is one of the regions with highest aquaculture potential in Kenya because of the abundance of water resources with main cultured fish being Nile tilapia which accounts for 56.8% of its production (4). However, the region still records some of the highest malnutrition and poverty levels at the national level (2).  Busia County which has a population of 893,681 has an absolute poverty stand at 66.7%, food poverty 61.4% and hard core poverty 50.64 % (2). According to Lake Victoria National Frame Survey 2014 report, the County has about 3000 registered fishers with Most SMEs practising a semi-intensive aquaculture of earthen ponds as well as commercial intensive culture based on cages in Lake Victoria. Aquaculture and fisheries practiced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Busia County remain a major source of employment and nutrition for the community. However, in the recent years, most SMEs in Busia have recorded fluctuations in fish supply and low productivity attributed to expensive compound feeds and fish deaths arguably caused by aquarium water pollution. 

SMEs and fish production in the region is under mounting pressure from the high cost of compound feeds as well as the negative effects of environmental and aquarium pollution leading to fish death which significantly causes poverty in the rural population. The project uses spirulina in aquaculture in Busia county to improve marginal productivity at a reduced cost thereby increasing income to the farmers. This intervention come handy in the realization of Kenya’s Vision 2030 which integrates aquaculture (fish farming) as a source of food security, poverty reduction, and employment creation. 

Spirulina, an excellent detoxifier and plant protein has demonstrated its effectiveness in promoting growth of cultured fish, increased disease resistance, increased larval survival rate and reduced wastes in effluents. To evaluate the efficacy of this intervention, operation costs, ammonia concentration in the effluents, fish growth rate, fish size and number in the 4 ponds will be recorded. The central idea is to help the SMEs become more profitable through safer, cost effective, and rich fish feeds that will boost productivity and the community nutritional well-being. 

The project serves rural communities of Siaya, Busia and Nakuru. Busia County (for instance) which has a population of 893,681 has an absolute poverty stand at 66.7%, food poverty 61.4% and hard-core poverty 50.64 %. The Kenya Health Information System 2013-2017 shows that Siaya County produces food that often lasts less than nine months within a year. This output is not sufficient and stable hence there exist food gaps that go for three to several months during poor seasons. In the three counties, crop farming has shifted from traditional and nutrient dense crops to grain mono-cropping. The foreseeable practice has exposed the rural poor communities to exhaustion of soil nutrients, emergence of resistant pests and diseases as well as fluctuations of food prices. In Nakuru, the 2007 post-election violence led to insecurity, rise in the prices of fertilizers. Siaya, bordered by Busia to the North West, has a water surface of 1,005 km2 that forms part of the third largest freshwater lake in the world (L. Victoria). In Nakuru, 70% of the total land is considered highly agriculturally productive. This intervention will come handy in improving food security, poverty reduction, and employment creation in the rural poor communities. 

The project population records some of the highest malnutrition and poverty levels at the national level. The Udongo Kwa Maisha project is anchored under several international and national initiatives and policy commitments to end hunger and extreme poverty by ensuring food and nutritional security in the underprivileged communities. Udongo Kwa Maisha Project is formulated within the context of the international conventions, ratified by Kenya as well as other policies developed by the national and county governments to enhance food and nutritional security of the rural poor during the first 1000 days of life. 

After being licensed to practice as a public health nutritionist by The Kenya Nutritionists and Dietitians Institute according to section 22 and 24 of the Nutritionist and Dieticians Act Cap 253B of Kenya, I started offering consultancy services as well as engaging in private research practice. My focus has been in the line of maternal infant and young child nutrition. In 2017, I conducted a research in my community unearthing that approximately 26% of children under 5 years of age are stunted, 28% underweight and 10% wasted. This was a dark reminder of the current challenges in the African continent and the apparent normality of the rural community where I grew up being sustained by a diet of pap, onions, and Nik Naks. This inspired me to venture into social entrepreneurship where my work support families and communities that are unable to promote healthy and diverse foods to their children. I do this by linking them up to various agribusiness projects in my CBO such as organic farming, bee keeping, fish farming and poultry keeping. So far, over 100 households and 50 preschools have befitted from my initiative both in Kenya and South Africa.  

My motivation comes from both personal and societal challenges in the communities that I am raised. To begin with, my country, Kenya and Africa at large is experiencing the worst states of malnutrition than ever in history. Every day, hundreds to thousands of children are dying of  food related diseases such as Kwashiorkor, Marasmus, Diabetes, Hypertension, Renal failure, obesity. In addition, HIV/AIDS has killed many included one of my parents. Two months ago, I buried a niece who was suffering from Kwashiorkor. My mother is also battling her life with nutrition related complications. Kenya is not the only country since Africa is ailing from similar malnutrition problems that can only be solved when young people step up to strengthen efforts by the United Nations and local governments. My understanding of leadership is the ability to inspire and influence people towards achieving a particular goal. In other words, leaders have a vision and they inspire people to move with them towards realizing the vision. 

I have managed projects in line with agri-nutrition, health and wellness as well as monitoring and evaluation. For instance, in 2013, I was involved an anti-jigger campaign to help eradicate the infection in households within 

rural Western Kenya. My role included mobilizing community gatekeepers for access to households of interest as well as keeping records of beneficiaries for contact tracing and assessment of project impact. I was also a 

pioneer advocate of Gender Based Violence Campaign to create more awareness within the communities in standing up for and supporting girls and women. I addition, I initiated Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision programs within Maseno University with support and partnership from local healthcare providers such as the Agha Khan Foundation. For more than 6 years, I have participated in community nutrition projects with impacts such as initiation of school and community vegetable gardens. I am currently the project manager and executive director in charge of coordinating day-to-day functions at the Ndalo Heritage Trust building the knowledge on essential business management skills among 48 smallholder farmers and 48 Self-Help Groups in the present project. 

During my internship training at a postgraduate academy that was located within one of the most remote regions of Kenya. During this training, most interns felt discouraged and were brewing rebellion because of the hardship situation and further, the internship was unpaid. I thought it wise to advise my colleagues to look at the greater good and express their challenges through the right channels. This worked well because the administration organised for an open forum where everyone was heard and his or her grievances solved. Based on these and many more, I believe in the leadership that inspire, empower and leaves a positive mark. In every difficult situation, potential leaders seize opportunities to present solutions and I believe I am one. 

I was the chairperson of the Nutrition and Dietetics Students’ Association of Maseno University from the year 2012 to 2013. During this period, I inspired my team to implementing a number of projects that are still ongoing. For instance, every semester, we would carry out two nutrition assessment activities for the students and the University staff. These included anthropometrics, dietary, laboratory and clinical assessments. We would then enrol the clients who needed nutrition intervention for nutrition counselling and lifestyle management classes. I also managed to pursued and win the support of the Head of the Nutrition Department who sought various experts to provide input on our initiatives. Later on, during my clinical attachment at the second largest referral hospital in Kenya (MTRH), I saw the need for the institution to provide some time, every Friday afternoons, for the students on attachment and the interns to reflect on their learning both horizontally and vertically. After sharing this idea with the Head of Nutrition Department in the facility, the hospital department embraced the idea and to date the initiative is ongoing and has led to a better learning experience for students in the facility