Capacity Building Workshop: Learning to Teach and Teaching to Learn

Phil Colins says that in learning, you will teach and in teaching you will learn.

The Micro Enterprise team held a successful three-day capacity building workshop at the Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) in Embu County from May 26-28 2021.

Micro Enterprise team at the fodder crops section

KALRO was selected for the workshop after the findings of a benchmarking trip earlier this year, which indicated that the Centre was in a position to host us for a capacity-building workshop. KALRO was formed in 1950 to coordinate research and transfer technologies to farmers in central Kenya. The objective of the capacity building was to provide the Micro Enterprise team with an opportunity to learn and acquire new knowledge and skills for effective service delivery to the clients. Aristotle says that “for the things we have to learn before we do can do them, we learn by doing them.” Over 50% of our clientele invest in livestock-related activities such as dairy farming, goat rearing, poultry farming, and pig rearing. Low production of milk and loss of livestock is caused by poor practices when it comes to breeding, feeding, and housing of livestock. Since the Micro Enterprise department is committed to the alleviation of poverty through the creation of sustainable business and training, something needed to be done in this regard.

A Micro Enterprise officer undertakes a milking procedure at KALRO dairy farm

Confucius says that “one should learn as if you were not reaching your goal and as though you were scared of missing it”.

The training was facilitated by more than six KALRO trainers, who applied a variety of methodologies in their presentations. Some of the methodologies adopted included: field demos, discussions, class sessions, laboratory activities, recap sessions, and sharing of experiences about some successful farmers within Embu and some parts of Kirinyaga County.

The Micro Enterprise team after undergoing the three-day workshop

The training focused on livestock management i.e., the breeding, feeding, and housing of dairy cows, dairy goats, pigs, and poultry. The training sessions provided detailed and clear ways of maximizing production through best livestock management practices such as feeding dairy cows according to their production, construction of good housing structures that ensure the animals are clean and therefore reduces the chance of getting livestock diseases, getting the best breeds during insemination so as to get the best breed with the maximum production and avoid inbreeding among others.

Micro Enterprise team performing some soil testing experiments in the lab

The training also covered fodder selection and production so as to get the fodder crops with high crude protein as that will ensure the livestock have the required nutrition and the best ways of preserving fodder once harvested that will preserve nutrients.

 Ann Voskamp says that practice is the hardest part of learning, and training is the essence of transformation. Most of the training sessions were done out in the field as a practical which enhanced learning. The fodder selection, production, and preservation training were held in the field and the team was shown specific fodder crops grown at the institute and how they are and should be preserved.