I arrived in Kenya two weeks ago and I have had uncountable impressions since then. Landing at 3.30am in Nairobi, it was no problem getting to the hotel with our loyal taxi driver allowing me to get a few hours of sleep before attending to a few pre-arranged meetings. In Nairobi, I first met with Momentum’s lawyer to make sure all the documents for setting up a bank account were in order. After getting hold of a Kenyan sim-card in between the two meetings, I met with our bank guy to finalize the bank account, which apparently is a rather bureaucratic and lengthy process. Luckily, the mission succeeded, which makes the management of Momentum’s finances much more organized. The next day, on Saturday January 10^th, I flew to Kisumu, where Kevin and Theresa greeted me and drove me to Uhuru. During the weekend, I had some time to settle in and trying to get to know the area a little. I managed to get lost already on Sunday making the mistake of following small paths instead of sticking to the main roads. Nevertheless, I found my way back with some help from some of the locals.

On Monday, we started off with this year’s first Trainer’s monthly meeting. The trainers updated us all on how their groups are doing, how the harvest from the short rains has been and if they are even done with harvesting by this time. All in all, the farmers were satisfied with the yield of the short rain season, as is had rained above average for that time of year. On the more negative side, we were also discussing if some farmers have to be dropped due to failure of meeting deadlines for repayment of their loans or if they do not cooperate and participate in group activities. As a conclusion to the meeting, we agreed that we need to push for the last installments and also collect seed selection forms in order to know how much and which kinds of seeds we have to order for the coming season. During the rest of the week, we have been finishing the second round of mobilization of new farmer groups as part of our goal of upscaling operations in the Siaya area. The mobilization meetings have generally gone well except for one detail, which is difficult for me to get used to coming from a relatively punctual cultural background. We could knowingly be 45 minutes late for a meeting and not a single participant would have showed up. When calling village elders, they said they were on their way and that the other villagers were also coming to the agreed upon venue for the meeting; they just had some other commitments to attend to first. Therefore, we often ended up waiting for people to slowly turn up, not looking like they were in any kind of a rush, and kindly greeting us when they arrived anything between an hour and two and half hours late. I suggested to the other staff that we tell them to be there at noon instead of at 2pm enabling us to be able to start the meeting at 2pm. Regardless of their slight tardiness, we held the meetings and the mobilization result has been successful, although we have not quite reached our maximum capacity yet. There is still room for growth.

After finishing mobilization, this past week has mostly been focused on debt collection and collecting the remaining membership fees from the new groups. Unfortunately, the remaining total debt remains higher than is wishful at this point for some groups and particularly in Kisumu. We will continue to go to the Kisumu office regularly over the coming weeks to make sure we settle as much debt as possible before we close the office for this season. Since we plan to restart operations there again for the short rain season next autumn, we wish to remain with a good image as a serious business in the area and to retain a high satisfaction rate among our farmers.

Our main tasks are currently to collect outstanding balances, begin training sessions of both new and old groups and most importantly, to get an overview of our total number of farmers for the fast-approaching new season in order for us to order farm inputs in the correct quantities. In that regard, we held a field day to show a new seed being introduced to the Kenyan market in order for the farmers to see how well it did. Both the farmers and the company representatives were satisfied after the field day, as it seems a promising seed. With the extended repayment deadline, it remains to be seen which of the farmers who currently still have outstanding debts will be able to repay by the end of this month and thus be eligible to take new loans for the long rain season. This means that we cannot establish an exact number of farmers until the end of January. Until then, we are in contact with government representatives responsible for the distribution of fertilizer and we have also established contact with private suppliers in case the government fails to deliver on time. As of now, we cannot get a direct answer from the government as to when they will receive fertilizer. Hopefully, they will know soon and we do not have to worry about getting enough of the good – and subsidized not to forget – fertilizer.

With the opening of our new bank account, it has been crucial to deposit some of the cash in the office, which we have done meanwhile being at the Kisumu office before returning to Uhuru. Riding on a boda boda (motorcycle) early in the morning with 400,000 shillings under my jacket on the way to Kisumu was an interesting experience. Boda bodas are by far my new favorite means of transportation. It is super convenient and aside from the dust, it is also super fun!

If you have a good (social) business idea, the entrepreneurial spirit it takes to start a new project, and you’re willing to put in the backbreaking work it takes to bring it to life, you’ll still need a little something. You’ll need people. In Momentum, as in any other business, it’s the people who put in their time and effort that make the heart of the organization pump. And still, they’ve never really been introduced in the blog. Sure, you can find their faces on the webpage, but that doesn’t mean you really get to know them. It’s about time you meet the Momentum family.

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First off, here’s Kevin and Paolo. Kevin doesn’t always hug his bag, and it is rare to see Paolo without a cigarette. They must both have been caught unawares… From the very beginning of Momentum, Paolo has been consulted on financial matters, and I’m fairly certain Christian likes to refer to him as a “financial wizard”. He was finally persuaded to move to Kenya and participate in Momentum activities full time, albeit for a limited number of months. There’s only so long a true Italian can go without access to espressos and real tomato sauce – Paolo shrinks his nose at what Kenyans call tomato sauce, which to be fair can best be described as neon red and rather sticky. The eternal career nomad; he is only borrowed by Momentum until Christmas this year, but before he heads on to his next adventure he’ll have done a thorough job of securing that Momentum is on the path towards financial sustainability.

Kevin on the other hand is a local. A true local. He was brought up close to where the Momentum office is located, and both knows and understands this area to a fault. Originally he was recruited as an agricultural expert, which makes sense as he has a degree in agriculture, but it didn’t take long before it became apparent that he also has what it takes to run an office. By now he’s both an agricultural expert and the boss. He keeps saying that by 2016 he’ll make all sorts of grand changes in his life, like giving up ugali (or only eating it once a week, or once a month…his story keeps on changing). In his ‘spare time’ he continues to farm a piece of land along with his mother, and he owns a barbershop. Spare time in Kenya is a completely different concept from what we understand by it in the Western world. Here most employees get up early in the morning to work on other projects before ‘going to work’, whether it’s growing maize, vegetables, processing peanuts or keeping poultry, every waking hour counts. But back to the matter at heart: these two fellows keep the grand overview of Momentum’s activities, and they share the same conviction that things will work out in the end. Maybe not always according to whatever schedule has been put in place, but it will happen. Paolo’s favorite phrase tends to be “we’ll see what we can do” followed by a smile and a shrug, to which Kevin adds, “it must be done, it shall be done, it will be done!” And time and time again Kevin has been right.

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Now, meet Washington. Momentum’s very own field supervisor. The motorcycle is not just for decorative purposes, instead it’s what permits him to move around the area, meet the farmers, inspect the fields, collect loan repayments and assist the Momentum trainers when they need it. His people are from the area in which Momentum works, and while he himself has lived all over Kenya growing up, he insists that the best place and way to make a life for yourself is by farming in his home area. His cousins in Nairobi have a hard time believing (or maybe accepting?) that you can lead a good life if you apply yourself to farming. Washington has a knack for teaching, and a passion for farming. His years spent working as a primary school teaching assistant have made him apt at explaining, and his years spent accumulating knowledge on farming and putting it to use on his own farm ensure that he understands the exact conditions and challenges that the Momentum farmers face. But his own success in farming is also what makes him relentless; if you are equipped with the right knowledge and the right inputs, which is what Momentum ensures, there are no excuses for your farm not prospering. Also, nothing makes him happier than a smooth and easy loan collection, and he believes that the only reason for a man to be weak is a lack of ugali in his diet.

Boys, boys, boys, but what about the ladies? Here’s Eunice. On this picture she is flanked by Washington and Paolo.

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In her capacity as a field manager she is a force to be reckoned with. Sometimes I call her ‘the whip’. With her sharp tongue she will whip any and all farmers into understanding how the relationship between them and Momentum must work, what their responsibilities are and what ours are in turn. The farmers love her, especially those who have had the pleasure of being trained by her, because she knows her stuff. She has years of experience in agricultural community development from various organizations, and puts her knowledge to use in mobilizing farmers for Momentum, working out training material and schedules, and keeping every group on track. She is tough but fair, and she likes to keep everyone earth bound by challenging the ideas that are brought forth by the team in the office. Only when things have been thoroughly scrutinized and subjected to her questions will they be allowed to move forward. She also has two cows. One is called Nyala. And when we’re lucky Eunice brings us fresh milk in the morning.

These are all the people who are fulltime employees. But there are some good people missing still. The way Momentum works with the farmers groups to ensure that they get both agricultural and business skills is to assign each group a trainer, who meets with them once a week. The trainers are semi-volunteers; they spend approximately 2 hours per week per group, and get a small symbolic compensation for their work. They are the eyes and ears of Momentum in the field, because even with a motorcycle Washington cannot be everywhere. Besides giving us regular updates over the phone, the trainers join the team once a month at the office to discuss what is going on in the field. These people are passionate about their communities. Many of them are also farmers and often go beyond the requirements and expectations of Momentum in their work. To me they illustrate the beauty of a community coming together.

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And as if that wasn’t enough there are also some good people working for Momentum in Denmark. While Momentum is on the path towards financial sustainability, we are not quite there yet, which means that fundraising is still necessary. A small handful of people who devote their time and efforts on a voluntary basis are doing most of that in Denmark. They might think that we don’t think of them in Kenya, but we do, and we know that they play an instrumental part in making Momentum a success.

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Then of course there’s Christian. Both part of the Momentum team in Denmark and the team in Kenya. Seen in his right element mingling with farmers on this picture.

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These are the people who are working towards improving the living standards of as many farmers as they can get their hands on while building a sustainable business.

In addition, there is the occasional intern, right now that would be me (in the  middle):

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