Check out how the Daraja Farm has grown over the past 4 years into an organic farm that sustains campus.

With each new class of Daraja girls as well as more volunteers and staff, come more meals to make. Instead of buying most vegetables and fruit, Daraja produces much of the food that is consumed. Over the past four years, the Daraja Farm has grown from a small carrot patch to over an acre of more than 14 plants that provide for campus. Want to know the details about the farm? Keep reading below!

Daraja Farm in 2009

Each week, hundreds of pounds of vegetables are harvested for the kitchen that serves up to 180 people each meal. For example, 100% of all kale and spinach consumed at Daraja comes from the farm and averages to about 185 pounds each week. Zucchini can produce 90 pounds every two days during harvest. When tomatoes are ripe after six months of growing, around 155 pounds can be harvested each week. These are the main ingredients in food at Daraja, but also produced on the farm are mangos, papaya, sunflower, squash, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, hot peppers, and spices.

Daraja Farm in 2012

What goes into producing so much food? It has taken much hard work and planning to have such a successful farm. The climate at Daraja has made it easier to produce a wide variety of vegetables. It rains much of the year and provides enough water for the plants and in the dry season, a drip irrigation system supplements for the lack of water. Drip irrigation is a very sustainable and water-conscious system to water plants where pipes run the length of the crop and only water directly at the root of the plant. In some areas of the farm, double dug beds are created to produce more food at a faster rate. This system involves digging the top layer and mixing it with manure and compost, which is also created in the farm. That mixture is then mixed with the second, nutrient-rich layer to create a super rich top soil. Some plants require shade beds as the sun in the equatorial region is very strong and can kill plants such as tomatoes. However, in the past few months, heat has not be the killer of plants, but rather cold and ice. In July, two hail storms killed the onions as well as tomatoes and cabbage. The last method of growing is using green manure, which is the mixture of a cover crop (non-producing plants) and manure to create extra-fertile soil. This has proven very successful with potatoes as 3.5 sacks can be harvested at a time.

1 of 3 shade beds in the farm

Maintaining an organic farm is difficult and requires the dedication of three full-time farm workers as well as fifteen Daraja students who spend around an hour each day in the farm helping harvest, weed, or plant. The organic model has proven extremely successful and provided three times as much produce as inorganic (using pesticides). The goal of the Daraja Farm is to produce all the food required to feed campus.