This document summarizes bio-intensive agricultural training provided to 5 small farmer families in Kenya. The training focused on techniques like double digging, organic fertilizing, intensive planting, companion planting, carbon farming, and calorie farming. These techniques were intended to maximize production from minimal land and improve soil quality over time. The expected results included providing nutritious food and income while promoting biodiversity, small-scale efficiency, and sustainability.

1. Learning bio-intensive agriculture in small farms
Overview
Bio-intensive Agriculture is the focus of organic farming to maximize the results of a minimum area
which simultaneously improve soil conditions.
This report gives an account of agricultural activities bio-intensive through simple training and learning.
This report is expected as the documentation and provision of knowledge for the families, supported by
MicroAid Projects.
The project was implemented by the CMAP with five family farmers in Saba, Witaluk, Kenya.
Beneficiaries of this training are: Nancy Opelle, Charles Otunga, Benard Chela, Martin Masika and
Everlyne Masilkan. Implementation of this project also attracted another group of 15 families who also
participated.
Initial thoughts in a farming community marked by the deterioration in the amount of genetic diversity,
the basis of farmable land runs out, food supplies are sufficient to increase the human population, and
community forestry base is reduced even worse.
CMAP in recent years have experimented agriculture and develop sustainable agriculture approaches.
This method is inexpensive and non-pollution, maximize agricultural output, build soil fertility, and
minimizing the input of water, energy, and fertilizer.
Goal
Helping families of small farmers in Saba, Kenya improve their agricultural productivity and increase
family incomes through training and development of sustainable agriculture bio-intensive.
The analysis we did showed a lack of available agricultural land so that was not enough for many farming
communities are densely populated when using conventional techniques for their farms.
Bio-intensive agricultural training is done in five days with the familiar basic education and agricultural
principles bio-intensive.
1
www.microaid.org | admin@microaid.org

2. Albert Wamalwa, coach of the CMAP, the training sessions with farmers
Excavation Doubles
In this method, the plants will be planted on bare land excavations conducted twice. The first excavation
as deep as 12 inches down and then after the ground became soft, followed by another dig as deep as
24 inches. Loose soil allows plant roots to penetrate easily and allows more air into the soil. Soil
moisture is reversed and maintained without the "water logging", weeding is simplified because the
concession of land and erosion is minimized.
Training sessions of double digging process
Organic Fertilizer
Chemical fertilizers have been shown to deplete the soil from time to time, and deteriorating soil
quality, increase the amount of chemical fertilizers needed to maintain yield, soil structure and life micro
biotic harmed. Organic fertilizer is needed to maintain health and strength of soils that are farmed using
bio-intensive plants. When applied correctly this fertilizer improves soil quality. Such as soil health
improves, optimum plant health is maintained, and the garden is maximized.
There is a basket of organic fertilizer choice that can be categorized as based fertilizers, nuts or biomass-
based.
2
www.microaid.org | admin@microaid.org

3. Manure-based fertilizers include age, tea, fertilizer, worm casting, cow dung, etc.
Legume-based fertilizers include intercropping with legumes (nitrogen-fixing plants such as peas, beans,
Leucaena, turi, etc.).
Biomass-based fertilizers include compost (compost pit, compost piles, compost baskets and
containers), stinging nettle manure, etc. Additives like wood ash, bone meal, egg shells, etc. contribute
greatly to organic fertilization, by producing potassium, phosphorus, calcium and iron, if we let the soil
micro-organisms to work on them.
Add "in accordance with the amount of organic fertilizer" plus 8 cubic yards of compost without soil
organic matter per 100 square meters.
Composting training sessions; Everlyne Msilkani, Benrad Chela and Charles Otunga
3
www.microaid.org | admin@microaid.org

4. Intensive Planting
Because land is often limited in many farmers' fields, the focus here is the increasing production of
various products at farm level. To achieve this increase in productivity, seed or seed / planting materials
are planted as deep as 3 to 5 inches, as wide as your foot using a hexagonal spacing pattern. Each plant
was placed the same distance from all the plants around it, so that when the plants mature, their leaves
touch. It gives a "mini-climate" under the leaves that retain moisture, protect valuable microbiotic life
from the ground, inhibiting weed growth, and facilitate higher yields. This method avoids problems
encountered when planting in narrow row
Farmers practicing intensive crop cultivation.
Chela Benard practice bio-intensive plant
Companion Planting
Research has shown that many plants grow better when planted crops with a certain distance. Green
beans and strawberries, for instance, develop better when they grow together. Some plants are useful
in repelling pests, while others are beneficial insect life. Corn provides shade to cucumbers. Borage, for
example, helps control tomato worms while blue flowers attract bees. In addition, many wild plants
4
www.microaid.org | admin@microaid.org

5. have a healthy effect on the ground in their roots loosen the soil and bring previously unavailable trace
minerals and nutrients. Use companion planting to help farmers in producing fine quality of food crops
and help create and maintain healthy soil.
Nancy Opelle practices with mentoring the plants in her garden
Carbon Farming
Soil fertility is facilitated by planting about 60% of the land area. These plants produce large amounts of
key ingredients of carbon per unit area, which is used to build compost to improve and maintain the
ecosystem of microbes that live in soil. These plants also produce large amounts of calories. Corn,
wheat, amaranth, millet and wheat are some plants that make this possible. Compost materials grown
on the farm will be important in the future, because a large amount of organic matter and nutrients are
currently being "mined" from the ground in one area and transported to the ranch improvements in
other areas. Conversely, we can produce more organic material and store more nutrients in a closed
system.
5
www.microaid.org | admin@microaid.org

6. Benard Chela and Otunga Charles shows how carbon farming intended to replenish soil fertility
Calorie farming
A production efficient enough calorie in a small area to plant roots is facilitated by special in 30% of the
developing world. These crops include potatoes, sweet potatoes, salsify, burdock, garlic and radish and
generate a large number of calories per unit area.
6
www.microaid.org | admin@microaid.org

7. Nancy Opelle shows the principle of integrated farming in her garden
The use of open pollinated seeds
With bio-intensive planting techniques, from the green revolution can be obtained with normal and
open pollinated seeds that have been selected for decades and centuries because they are profitable.
Specific hybrid is not required for excellent results. In this way the various tanamana to grow while the
world's genetic diversity is maintained.
Benard shows corn and soybean-pollinated
A comprehensive gardening method
It is important to realize that bio-intensive cultivation method is the overall system, and all components
of this method should be used together for optimal effect. If you are not using all the components
together, it will not provide maximum results. A healthy plant will give a healthy life for humans.
7
www.microaid.org | admin@microaid.org

8. A well-developed garden
Pest Control
Using organic pesticides such as pepper, tobacco, pyrethrum, stinging nettle, etc. to fight against
harmful insects have also been introduced to farmers.
Additional Work
To help families and their communities in promoting the sustainability of agriculture with sufficient
income, allowing them to realize their food needs in the future and reverse environmental degradation
that result from conventional farming methods, CMAP intends to strengthen training and education by
facilitating the formation of segment groups of plants bio-intensive mini for the family farmers who
participated in the region. This mini-group will provide training in sustainable agricultural production
that increase yield using less water and no fertilizer purchased. They will also use 40 to sleep and
improve their agricultural land.
8
www.microaid.org | admin@microaid.org

9. Expected results
 Providing a complete nutritious food and adequate income levels;
 Generate a large diversity of plants for biodiversity and food security;
 Utilization of a small area, utilizing the efficiency with small-scale production;
 Using pollination seed, use seed owned by farmers and citizens, and encourage the use of seed
for local needs;
 Using low-tech tools to minimize the need for economic capital and the use of natural capital
(resources of the earth);
 Can be used for small farmers irrespective of their economic status, and are culturally
acceptable, and can be passed on to future generations.
This file presented by Community Mobilization Against Poverty (CMAP) – Kenya, for documentation of
micro project that supported by MicroAid Projects. April 2011.
9
www.microaid.org | admin@microaid.org