How much is 300 Danish kroner actually worth?

Back home in Denmark this amount is very small and does not make any promise towards improving your life. At best it will buy a piece of clothing, or maybe pay a monthly phone bill. However, in Kenya, that amount of money can help building a future for an entire family, through cooperation with Momentum Trust. 300 Danish kr. Is what it takes to grow ¼ of an acre with maize in Kenyan in order to feed their families for the next half a year.

The first time I have met one of our farmers, whose maize had grown strong and tall, even taller than me, at 2.01 meters, I fully understood the potential of the work and impact we accomplish together with the farmers.

 Jacqueline Asero (see picture on the right) has shown great commitment to our cooperation and followed our trainings – provided by my colleagues Stephan and Tereza – to the point. What better evidence of the potential for small farmers in Kenya can you have, than simply looking at Jacqueline’s farm of maize and beans production. Now she is able to continue growing her farm, and more importantly she now has a platform from where she can start developing and being an independent food provider for her and her family.

Giving people in underdeveloped countries – among them Kenya – the opportunity to become an independent provider of food is creating a solid ground for their families. We at Momentum Trust believe that everything good starts with food. But the best part is that this is only the starting point; if people get the opportunity to work and earn money, they will spend the money on education for their children and thereby help developing the local community. The emphasis on developing the local community also have multiple affects onto society and is the way forward if we want a world with less inequality and more equal opportunities for all children.

Organizations like Momentum Trust are working towards empowering more and more farmers to become self sufficient and independent, through help to self-help and cooperation.

Everybody wants the opportunity to be self sufficient and grow crops, that can help them get food      for their children and help them financial, in order to send children to school.

The affects of 300 DKK can have a great effect on local communities in developing countries, because when the farmers are working together with Momentum Trust, it is not only on an individual level that progress is taking place, but also in the society as a whole. An increase in production of crops means that money will circulate on the local markets and therefore also affect the sales of other areas of the market.

So by supporting a Kenyan women like Jacqueline, with a small amount of 300 DKK, we can advance local communities towards a better life and offer their children an opportunity to get a better life and by growing up in world where their dreams of school, education, self-sufficiency and family’s that can be fed can be fulfilled.

by Hans Christian, Project Assistant