For generations, smallholder farmers in Kenya's Embu and Tharaka Nithi counties — two largely rural areas in the country's east — struggled with degraded soil, unpredictable rains, and harvests that barely covered their families' needs. The arrival of Farm Africa, a UK-based charity working across eastern Africa, and its STRAK programme — Strengthening Regenerative Agriculture in Kenya — began to change that in 2017.
The approach is built on techniques rather than technology: intercropping, agro-forestry, crop rotation, and the use of farmyard manure instead of chemical inputs. Trained farmers don't just change their own practices — they become Village-Based Advisors, passing their knowledge to neighbours across the community. More than 70% of the 60,000 farmers supported by the programme have now adopted these methods. They are reporting yields up to 81% higher than before, and a 92% improvement in soil water retention. Crop failure, soil erosion, and chemical dependence have all sharply reduced.
The results have been independently verified by the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry, which analysed soil samples from 2,000 project sites and confirmed dramatic improvements in soil health and microbial diversity. For farmer Godfrey Kirimi, 27, the change has been transformational: what started as a small plot in Tharaka Nithi has grown into a six-acre tomato farm employing more than 30 people.
The programme, funded by the IKEA Foundation through AGRA, is already working with county governments to embed regenerative practices into regional policy — a sign that what began as a grassroots project may be on its way to becoming the standard.