Reitz Mureithi

Two women in Nakuru county are quietly guarding ancestral seed varieties and turning that knowledge into a booming business that’s changing how local families eat and earn. Through seed-saving workshops, community seed banks, and cooperative sales, they’ve empowered dozens of female farmers to rebuild livelihoods through agroecology. This piece documents their intergenerational knowledge transfer, the gendered barriers they overcame, and how women-led seed entrepreneurship is shifting power in local food systems. The story inspired more women to join the seed saving community in Gilgil through the Seed Saving Network organisation.

The story shows the unknown impact of war on donkeys. It focusses on three donkey farmers in Nessuit, Nakuru county in Kenya. The farmers narrate how their donkeys have become a saving grace in times of conflict which is sadly rampant in the region. In the story, I highlight the bond that farmers have with the animals and how they have learnt to take of the animals, having seen how helpful the donkeys are both in everyday life and when war descends on the community. The story sparked a move from organizations in the animal welfare space to support farmers on how to take care of the animals when way breaks.