Follow Emmanuel Karisa Baya

A regenerative farmer in Kenya

Emmanuel Karisa Baya was an orphan in rural Kenya by the time he was nine years old. His mother had taught him to farm, and after going into another profession, he was called to return to the land. He found himself helping other orphans and poor children, and founding the Magarini Children Centre and Organic Demonstration Farm, where he practices and teaches organic and regenerative food production as well as conflict resolution.

Show notes:

1’58 how did you become a farmer
2’32 you were orphaned young
3’08 went from farming to being an accountant
4’21 found children who were supposed to be in school
5’53 supported fifteen children on the farm
7’31 what do you grow on the farm
9’22 teaching children to take care of the soil
9’42 raising pigs, loving and eating them
10’27 holistic education
10’59 sustainable farming includes many methods including traditional
11’33 what are the different farming techniques they use
12’05 got a scholarship to study farming in Japan
12’33 combined all methods appropriate to his community
13’13 pest control
13’30 crop rotation to control pests
13’45 rotation for healthy soil
14’16 the involvement of the community
15’07 extension agents try to teach them conventional farming, which is too expensive
15’44 combining traditional and organic gives higher yields
16’34 learning to work with and listen to the soil
17’25 medicine trees
18’20 mulching
19’00 controlling weeds
19’26 keeping bees
20’39 learning conflict resolution
22’46 conflict between nomadic cattle herders and farmers
23’51 falsely portrayed as a religious conflict when it was a food conflict
27’22 learned each others’ music and sang and danced together
29’51 the outcome of the conflict resolution song
30’51 connections of soil, heart, and humanity
32’01 what happens to the kids when they get older
33’23 compassionate animal agriculture