The Village Youth And The Flies

PROGRESS IN THE FAMOJA PROJECT: THE YOUTH CIRCLE

On tour with the Youth Circle: we visit the fascinating Clan Coffee Farm run by friendly farmers three times. Mother and son passionately share their knowledge with our young people about independence, the courage to try new things, creativity, perseverance and, of course, organic, sustainable agriculture.

Why the"Youth Circle"?

Since the end of 2024, my home, Blue Moon Farm, has become a weekly meeting place for the village youth. Our ‘Youth Circle’ was born, a space for teenagers in our village to learn things ‘you don't learn in school.’

We have just completed several intensive months of meditating together, exchanging ideas, learning, experimenting, building community, and undertaking the challenging task of implementing a group project – the Black Soldier Fly Project, an initiative to produce organic animal feed as a source of income (see below for more details).

Our pioneers are in a transitional phase, having completed their school education and waiting to start their further education in September. In this phase, our ‘Gen Z’ is treading on thin ice. A lack of sports facilities, youth centres, clubs, etc. leads to boredom, often a lack of motivation and vision, and not infrequently to drug abuse or premature parenthood.

The Youth Circle - A "Safe Space"

The Youth Circle is considered a safe space for teenagers, inviting informal education, eye-opening creativity and personal development. Before deciding on a specific group project to be implemented together, it is important to spend a lot of mindful time together. Meditation sessions, discussion groups and shared meals create a foundation of trust, community and mutual mindfulness. The aim is to listen, express oneself, practise changing perspectives, but also to learn what reliability and taking responsibility mean for one's own and shared needs in a community.

"I believe our country would be a better place if those who lead our country took time to meditate, reflect and listen to their own emotions."

(Charles, 17, member of the Youth Circle, who wants to become a politician)

After meditating, our boys write down their thoughts and feelings about what ‘being successful’ means to them.

In implementing the BSF group project, everyone has a specific task: from researching, planning and building the breeding house to completing a two-day training course on the individual steps involved in successful fly breeding – everyone is involved.

Exploring Together

The young people in our village of Kandongu don't often have the opportunity to travel beyond its borders. So the highlight for them is the trips to other farms, where we often spend the whole day listening, learning, helping out and seeing, hearing and tasting things that were previously unfamiliar to many of the young people: vegetable fields completely free of chemical pesticides, delicious homemade lemonades, beauty products made from medicinal herbs, home-roasted coffee and many opportunities for creative value creation through the processing of farm products. Meeting generous people who patiently share their knowledge is not an everyday experience for them.

Joint project: Breeding flies?!

As a joint group project, our young people chose the ‘BSF Project’, which involves breeding black soldier flies, which are becoming increasingly popular among young people in Kenya. Black soldier flies can be bred and their dried larvae serve not only as a good source of income when sold as eco-friendly protein feed to fish and chicken farmers, for example. The ‘waste products’ from breeding are also a super fertiliser for organic farms.

A flagship project: We are launching the first BSF project in the Mwea region!

The ‘BSF business’ is already widespread in other parts of Kenya, where young people are earning a fortune by offering affordable animal feed that helps fish and chicken farmers cope with the crisis caused by the devastating prices of industrial feed.

The good thing is that once the breeding operation is set up, it costs the farmer nothing. Apart from water for the flies and kitchen waste for the larvae, nothing else is needed to obtain a high-quality product.

The first BSF project in the Mwea region: Our Youth Circle is a pioneer in our region, where BSF breeding is still relatively unknown as an alternative animal feed. Interested chicken and fish farmers are already knocking on our door, eager to be supplied by us.

Even though it has only just begun, this project is a flagship project. Not only were we able to offer the young people in our village a meaningful, inspiring and horizon-broadening experience between school and training. They have gained valuable knowledge and skills to carry out a project that generates income while helping local livestock farmers out of the crisis.

The hoped-for magnet effect has worked: young farmers from the neighbourhood are becoming more and more aware of our project, forming study groups and exchanging ideas on the topic of sustainable agriculture – a topic for which there has been very little awareness in this region until now.

I would like to thank each and every one of you for supporting our vision. Empowering young people and helping them become the change makers of our time is not only fulfilling, but also urgently needed.

Thank you for your support, thank you for your trust, thank you for being part of us!

Warm regards from Kenya,

Jana