Thursday, April 3, 2014

Dairy Farm and Warehouse Tours

In December 2013, One Acre Fund introduced a new program to help farmers maintain healthy cows and maximize the milk production.  Approximately 80% of farmers have a least one cow which are mostly used for personal use. One Acre is always looking for new ways to help the farmers generate additional revenue.

In order to determine the best source of nourishment for the cows, ten meter by ten meter plots are being piloted to determine which species of hay grows best and provides the healthiest, best milk producing cows. They haven't started to test milk production but you know it is the ultimate goal. 

Absolutely every step in the process is done manually including baling of the hay. The hay is baled using a wooden box, with one man stuffing the hay in the box and the second man stomping it down. A far cry the the tractors and balers used at home. 

The farm currently  has ten cows and two calves that our monitored daily. Each receives their own special type of hay and the results are starting to be analyzed. The entire site is very impressive. 

After the tour of the dairy farm we were off to see one of One Acres' seven warehouses.  The warehouse store the seeds, fertilizer, solar lights and other supplies a farmer gets when they purchase a package from the One Acre Fund Farmers First program.   The warehouse is a massive building usually stacked to the rafters where everything is moved on and off the trucks by hand.  

The labours get paid approximately 300 shillings or $3.75 Canadian a day. The actual payment is based on weight added on or off the trucks each day and split amongst the team.  So no one slacks off, their goal is to load or stack as much product as possible as quickly as possible.

 There is no question the health and safety standards in Kenya are very different than in Canada. Men carry anywhere from 75 to 100 kilos at a time on the back of their necks and shoulders and they are moving. There are no forklifts, no dollies, just pure muscle power and apparently little to no injuries. 


You should see the muscles on these guys - they are ripped.

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