A Ray of Hope in the Face of Adversity

In the heart of Baringo County, Oterit Kures Village, lives 52-year-old Selly Kipsang, a resilient woman whose jovial nature masks all the adversity she has overcome over the years. If we could put a face to the term perseverance, that would be Selly’s. From battling debt to recovering from personal and financial losses, Selly’s story is one that gives hope to the hopeless.

The mother of three has experienced the heartbreak of seeing her firstborn daughter severely burned by hot water at a young age, an event that spiraled into years of hospital visits and mounting bills. Selly and her husband spent countless nights on an empty stomach and dealt with the devastating loss of livestock and the burden of loans for healthcare and school fees. When her husband fell ill and required surgery, Selly stepped in as the breadwinner, managing to keep her family going against all odds.

For years, Selly relied on maize farming, but unpredictable weather patterns and poor yields made it a challenging and unprofitable endeavor. She allowed livestock to roam freely across her farmland, but during dry seasons, they struggled due to a lack of pasture. Selly spent hours cutting trees for fuelwood, all while constantly worrying about how to provide for her cattle. 

Selly recalls a time when a severe drought ravaged their livestock. “It was during the dry season, and we had no grass for our 15 cows. We lost all of them except two, which we later sold to pay school fees,” she recounts.

With the introduction of the Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) approach by World Vision in her village in 2022, Selly gained a sense of revival and transformed her farm into a productive parcel, which initially had very little to offer. Alongside her husband, she adopted sustainable farming practices that minimized waste and improved soil fertility. Selly now has a fenced two-acre plot covered with indigenous grass and pruned trees that provide shade for her seven healthy cows. She now enjoys a steady supply of firewood and pasture, and unlike before, she has not lost a single cow since adopting FMNR.

Through training offered by World Vision’s Central Rift Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration Scale Up Project (CRIFSUP), Selly not only improved her farming practices but also strengthened her relationship with her husband. Selly now enjoys a more peaceful life, where they work together to ensure their family’s well-being.

“My husband and I were constantly in conflict. I was always stressed thinking of where to get food, firewood and pasture especially during the dry season,” Selly recalls.

Selly’s farm now produces a variety of crops, including sweet potatoes, cassava, pumpkins, pawpaws, and beans, which provide both income and a healthy, balanced nutrition for her family. Additionally, she has learned to store surplus grass and use holistic pasture management techniques to prevent wastage. Selly is also an active member of a Savings for Transformation (S4T) group where she can save and grow her money as well as take low-interest loans for personal and business developments.

“The S4T groups have been beneficial to our community. At least we have somewhere to run to when we have emergencies or pressing needs such as illness or school fees. We can access money from the group’s social fund, something we never had before,” Selly explains.

With an increased household income, Selly can now afford to purchase other necessities beyond what she produces on her farm. She is also able to pay off some of the institutional debts that have lingered for years.

“I believe that I will clear all my debts and get back on track to develop my homestead further,” Selly says with a grin, “The valuable Knowledge I have gained from World Vision has changed my life.”

Selly hopes to increase her acreage of land under FMNR and make improvements that will secure her family’s future. Upon clearing her loan repayment, she plans to install gutters and a larger water tank to harvest more water for use in her homestead and her crops.

The CRIFSUP project, funded by the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP), is among World Vision’s initiatives that seeks to restore hope and strengthen livelihood resilience for families like Selly’s in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) that are hard-hit by the impacts of climate change.

By Hellen Owuor, Communications Specialist (CRIFSUP), World Vision Kenya