1. Kenya 2010: Working in Partnership with Farming Collectives  Goal: Co-develop business practices with farming groups through development of two product lines: Amaranth grain Kanga cloth design  Information gathering & data collection: one-to-one interviews; focus group discussions; community meeting  Presentation of prototypes

2. Amaranth Grain  Conducted 14 interviews 10 individual farmers 4 group leaders representing farming co-operative  Community Meeting: 80 farmers from all 5 micro catchments in Gem District (Lake Victoria Region)  Collected information on production, production costs, market prices, storage and collection areas, milling, packaging, consumer demand, & selling of amaranth

3. Kanga cloth design  Conducted 7 interviews with women interested in their own exclusive kanga design  Interviewed 3 tailors - shop owners on buying & selling kangas, accounting & cash flow, consumer demand, & knowledge of design production  Presented prototypes of kangas at community meeting

4. Participatory Action Research: Presenting Prototypes Amaranth Seeder (URI) Hydrogeologic Measures (URI) Ceramic Filter Press: Showed Lou’s powerpoint presentation to 17 Farmers (men & women)

5. Outcome of Community Meeting: Marketing of Amaranth Biggest Challenges:  “The processors make all the profit”  Pricing: grain/flour  Bulk buyers are unreliable  Milling (sieve size) and cost of mill  Difficult to obtain certified seeds  Create a systematic market/corporation among farmers Next Steps:  Network & Work Together  Increase Demand & Awareness (many ideas)  Negotiate with/lobby millers (specific plan)  Regular Group Meetings  Intensify Production  Determine how to obtain certified seeds (ideas) *  Collect consumer data *  Packaging & brochures*  Look for ways to partner & obtain funding* * Collaborative efforts

6. Project Follow Up: 2010-2011  Partner with Alour Widow’s Group & Other Farming Collectives via collaboration with Kenya Agricultural & Research Institute, ACESS, Gov’t Ministries, & Universities Market plan for amaranth: Research regional pricing & conduct joint analyses of pricing: collect data on purchase cycle at individual and organizational level; test pricing & package design in community, mill proposal Identify textile companies for producing kanga cloth design – develop, propose, & present plan Hydrogeology study (for harvesting & aquaculture) – URI returns in Jan  Analysis of household survey data to inform project development (n =200, collected July 2010): baseline data on household structure, health, income, assets, agriculture, water supply & use, food consumption, farm equip, & market access  Grant Proposals/Fund Raising Efforts