Save the Elephants has been engaging farmers in the Sagalla area on conservation and organic farming to improve their agricultural productivity using sustainable farming practices that generate higher income, enhance their knowledge of various soil and water conservation agriculture technologies, and promote human-elephant coexistence through the cultivation of high-value, drought- tolerant non-palatable crops, such as sesame and sunflower.
Martha Mwaio smiles as she shows a sunflower growing in her farm in the Sagalla area of Tsavo, Kenya
The adoption of conservation and organic farming methods promotes sustainable land use through crop rotation and cover cropping, improving soil fertility, reducing the need for farmers to expand their farms and encroachment into protected areas/wildlife corridors and fostering agro ecological biodiversity – farmers benefit from pollinators such as bees.
Weeding is ongoing during a Conservation Agriculture training in Tsavo, Kenya
In collaboration with the Taita Taveta County Government’s Ministry of Agriculture, we continue to conduct in-situ farm training to equip smallholder farmers in Sagalla with the necessary skills and technologies for sustainable farming.