THE AFRICAN GRASSROOT POST

  SAWBO VIDEO RESTORES HOPE TO MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES IN WESTERN KENYA   By Gabriel Ingubu   Watching SAWBO charcoal water filtration video. Photo by Gabriel Ingubu The Charcoal Water Filtration video https://youtu.be/wsaBIOrjvW4 by SAWBO could be the most shared video among Lugari forest community members. The forest sits on 2,163 hectares of land and is surrounded by communities organized into seven groups forming a human fence to keep an eye on any destroyer. Besides wood and other benefits from trees, the communities also draw water from two points located a few kilometers away from the forest. Furthermore, there is a program by the forest management and the locals to allocate small pieces of land for farming of low cover crops as they support tree growing. Sunday 27 th March 2022 is the day I checked through the SAWBO library to find out if there are any videos on water filtration. Mid-morning was the time I arrived in this forest community. On my arrival, ...

Its always beautiful when you empower communities with information in the most simplest way to enhance their productivity and food security. In this picture, a beans farmer in the remote areas of Bungoma county Western Kenya is seen following  post harvest loss file from SAWBO on a laptop.

  By Gabriel Ingubu.   Photo by Gabriel Ingubu. Mr Eliud Mayende, Market Master Bukembe Market watching SAWBO RAPID video. It’s midmorning of a sunny Saturday at Bukembe market approximately 15 kilometers from Bungoma town along Webuye Malaba road, famously referred to as the Northern corridor road connecting the port of Mombasa and landlocked countries on East Africa block; Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, and Southern Sudan. Bukembe market is considered one of the hotspot areas because it’s also a resting area for long distance track drivers. On my way to the market, I find it’s already a beehive. Saturday is a market day. From the parking lot to the open air selling points to the enclosed shops and stalls, activities are at peak. Since the government, through the ministry of health, gave COVID–19 protocols, things aren’t the same as the way they used to be way back before the pandemic engulfed Kenya. Hand washing at every shop door, and strictly “No mask, No entr...