From March 28 to April 2, Carlo Petrini, president and founder of Slow Food, will be in Kenya and Uganda visiting local Slow Food and Terra Madre communities. Petrini will be in Nairobi from March 28-29.
Carlo Petrini’s trip to Kenya will also include visits to the following communities and school gardens:
March 29
Nairobi – Kiambu. Wangige Community Garden
The garden is located in Wangige, Kiambu County and involves 20 members who have come together to form the Wangige Self help Group. The garden was set up with aim of informing farmers on the issues surrounding sustainable agriculture due to the continued shift from traditional to conventional agriculture.
March 30
Gilgil, Nakuru – Fiwagoh Mission School (School Garden Project) (120km from Nairobi)
Located in Diatomite in Kariandusi village, Gilgil, Nakuru County, it is a mixed boarding school that caters for street children and children left orphaned due to HIV/AIDS.
Njoro, Nakuru – Egerton University (183km from Nairobi)
Egerton is the premier Agricultural public University in the country but has broadened to include other areas of research and teaching such as Natural resources, Applied sciences, Education, Computer science, Medical sciences, Education, Engineering and Business studies. At the University, Carlo Petrini will be holding a lecture for students and professors.
March 31
Njoro – Lare Pumpkin Presidium
The Lare division is located on the eastern edge of the Mau Forest, East Africa’s largest mountain forest, and is part of the dry highlands of the Rift Valley, an area that has experienced dramatic changes in rainfall patterns in recent years, bringing great concern for future food security. One crop that has been recommended to mitigate the impact of these climate changes is the traditional, locally grown variety of Lare pumpkin.
Molo – Michinda school garden
Michinda Primary School Garden, located in the town of Elburgon, Nakuru County, was set up in 2005 with support from NECOFA (Network for Ecofarming in Africa), the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity and Slow Food Central Rift Convivium. The garden is cultivated by 50 of the school’s 400 students.
April 1
Nakuru – Kitale, Namgoi Family Garden (225km from Nairobi)
The garden involves Mr. Wafula, his wife and their 6 children who are between 2 to 17 years of age. They bought the one acre piece of land in 2005, where they started the gardening project with the objective of providing clean and adequate food for the family and with the hope of later becoming a learning center for the neighborhood and the community as a whole.
April 2
Kitale – Kapenguria – Galip Litey primary school garden
In Kapenguria district, located in West Pokot county, 50 pupils from the local primary school are involved in running the Galip Litey school garden.
West Pokot, Kenya – Pokot Ash Yoghurt Presidium
In the Kenyan district of West Pokot, communities in the villages of Tarsoi, Tartur, Lition and Chaunet have traditionally produced an unusual food product, a yoghurt made using milk from cows (crosses between local breeds and zebù) or goat, mixed with the ash of the native cromwo tree.
It is possible for the press to take part in some of the visits to the communities and school gardens.
For interview requests and any further information, please contact:
Paola Nano – Slow Food International Press Director: [email protected]
Italian mobile +39 329 8321285 – Kenyan mobile +254707693824 (from the 25th of March)