Oserian Fairtrade establishes nutrition garden

The Oserian Fairtrade Joint Body has established a garden for production of selected highly nutritious vegetables to supplement staff feeding.

The Nutrition Garden is a project of the flower exporter and responsible trading label programme, Fairtrade. The label certifies goods produced by firms that have established systems for worker welfare, environmental protection and community support. Fairtrade labeled products are sold at a premium in UK supermarkets and proceeds ploughed back to support projects identified by the beneficiaries.

A beaming Mary Kinyua, the Fairtrade Officer at Oserian said the Nutrition Garden, that was unveiled with funfair in July, is an exciting development at the farm whose harvest was eagerly awaited. The results as seen in the pictures here have not disappointed. Dr Daniel Watta, The Coordinator of the Oserian HIV/AIDS workplace says 80 persons living with HIV/AIDS had been enrolled in the project and receiving free vegetables on a weekly basis.

“We supply the vegetables to any member of the family who is living with HIV. Unlike before where beneficiaries were restricted to issuing food per family, we are now distributing per head.” he noted.

He however proposed that The Fairtrade considers initiating a chicken rearing project to supplement the much needed proteins in their meals.

Apart from producing a variety of recommended vegetables suitable for special needs feeding, the garden will serve as training centre to demonstrate maximizing production per a square meter of land, said Oserian Technical Director Hamish Ker at the unveiling of the garden early July. 

Production manager Stephen Musyoka added the garden is a practical demonstration of how the skills and technologies applied in growing flowers can be used in crop husbandry with amazing results. The one-acre vegetable garden is adjacent to the main flower farm where selected popular vegetables - Sukuma wiki (Kales), spinach, cabbages, carrots, red pepper and capsicum have been planted in the open field under irrigation.