Leafy green vegetables dot the display tables as small holder farmers mill around the Traditional Vegetable Fair in Emaloba, Vihiga County. Scientifically, the vegetables on display are known as African Nightshade, Jute Mallow, Amaranth, Cowpea, Spider Plant, Crotolaria and Ethiopian Kale but locally to farmers here, these vegetables are easily identified as Kunde, Managu, Sageti, Terere, Nderema, Kanzira and Mrenda.
Joseph Mukuna is one of the more than 60 farmers in this trade fair who was part of the participatory traditional vegetables' variety selection program by Bioversity and Seed Savers Network Kenya. "It all starts from the planting and we record every change in the plant, when it starts fruiting, pods and how long it takes to harvest," explained Mukuna.
The farmers observe the shape, size, and colour of leaves; the breadth and height of the plant, the number of pods a single plant has produced and the number of seeds in the pods. They also look at the colour of the flowers on the plants. All these are done using rulers and strings to help the farmers with data collection.
"I did not have this knowledge and there was no economic benefit to growing these traditional vegetables. Now I have a deeper understanding of the plant and how it behaves in different climatic conditions," added Mukuna.
Joseph is a Community Health Promoter who looks after 102 households. "I am very passionate about the health of pregnant mothers and children under the age of five. These vegetables are nutritious and they are important in meeting the nutritional health needs of the children and expectant mothers," said Mukuna.
According to Terryanne Wamucii, Assistant Programs Coordinator at Seed Savers Network Kenya, "The aim of this characterization is for farmers to be able to identify which crop varieties do well in the area and which pests and diseases attack different crop varieties."
For Seed Savers Network Kenya, having the farmers participate in the characterization of different varieties of traditional vegetables is one way of building their resilience in the age of climate change.