The philosophy of the Red Rubber Ball Foundation has been to help people to improve their lives, with education at the heart of that. While secondary school scholarships have been the major element, we have also looked at other ways to help communities lift their living standards.
Our very first project in Kenya was the farm at Butere, helping to feed local orphan children and develop a productive farm for the local village.
In September 2021 we were therefore delighted to join with UK Rotary District 1260 Beds, Bucks and Herts which provided £550 to buy seedballs for schools and villages in western Kenya.
Rural villages in western Kenya where seedballs were distributed
Operated by Seedballs Kenya, each seedball contains a seed surrounded by charcoal to protect it. This helps the seeds to become established, reducing the need to transplant and helping the young trees grow stronger roots which in turn helps them grow into stronger trees. The focus is especially on replanting land that has been damaged by human activity where natural reforestation is unlikely or not possible at all.
Our Rotary funded project allowed for replanting in western Kenya near to our farming programme, to promote Agroforestry as a way of using their land for African farmers whose livelihoods are threatened by climate change and land degradation. Agroforestry has the potential to combine food security whilst mitigating climate change, and it also has benefits to the ecosystem like limiting the impact on water usage and improving biodiversity.
The project was an experiment with local children and villagers to assess:
- How agroforestry compares to current alternative land uses;
- Whether seedballs germinate and are more cost effective than planting seedlings;
- What trees species work best in the local conditions.
The funds received have been fully utilised in buying 54,500 seedballs and almost two years on we are seeing the results of this experiment in agroforestry.
These have been given to four schools, three local Rotary clubs and one agriculture centre. And we gave out 9,500 seedballs to villagers around our own farming programme in Butere and Mundeku villages.
The seedballs have been of several varieties of trees and shrubs, Acacia, Sesbania, Delonix, Dombeya and Olea Africana. These were selected by each group as being most suitable to their area. Some provide wood for timber furniture, tools or carvings, some are suitable for cattle, and even human food and medicine. Other species attract bees. All provide shade and shelter and help to fix nitrogen and prevent soil erosion.
The seedballs were planted in differing ways – some chose to plant in a nursery, allowing them to transplant established seedlings later, possibly providing a source of income too. Other groups simply chose to plant directly or scatter the seedballs.
The most encouraging results have come at Temo Primary School in Homa Bay close to Lake Victoria.
Nursery bed in sacks at Temo Primary School
Teacher Jared Audo reports, “We at Temo Primary School do appreciate the donation of 2500 acacia and 2500 delonix seedballs through your Rotary Club. This will ensure that our school has enough forest cover. The school neighbourhood benefited too. The seedballs were distributed to the school which prepared a nursery bed, and the seedlings were shared to the villagers as well.”
At Temo Primary, the germination of the Delonix seedballs was quite slow with around 250 or 1 in 10 germinating, but the Acacia did well with around 1300 (over half) germinating. As a result, we were able to send them a further 5,000 seedballs to extend their nursery.
Elsewhere the results were patchier, even at Manor House Agriculture Centre, where David Mwangi reported, “We received the acacia balls, planted in the nursery immediately after receiving them. However, the germination was below 50%. We managed to raise the ones that germinated.
We have a total of 160 seedlings which we intend to give to farmers keeping goats. Currently they are approximately 30cms tall”.
Namasoli School received 2500 Acacia + 2500 Delonix. These were planted in the school grounds, but teacher Mr Weche reported, were “not well tended afterwards. This may have been because the plant is a bit common over here, growing naturally on farms alongside the crops”.
It has been a similar story at Achuth Primary School, which was given 2500 Sesbania +2500 Delonix. “The seedballs, they are not germinating, especially the Delonix which at every attempt has not shown any sign of sprouting. The Sesbania, on the other hand, has sprouted but at a minimal level.
This season, we tried them on a seed bed, but only sesbania have sprouted.
There are some that we distributed to the community members, but the same is the case: only sesbania have germinated”.
The seedballs given out to local Rotary and Rotaract clubs were also then distributed by them to nearby schools and villages.
Sesbania plants fight for space with weeds
The Rotary Club of Kisumu Winam received 2500 Acacia + 2500 Sesbania. Tyson Odero reported that:
- 500 were planted in Omungi Primary School, but none germinated.
- 200 were sent to the Rotaract Club of Kakamega of which they planted in a school called Emukangu KAG Primary School. None germinated.
- 100 were given to the Kakamega Rotaract club to plant in the village. These have grown and a further 300 seedballs were sent.
- 300 were donated to the Rotaract Club of Rarieda, which they planted but none germinated.
Most of the seedballs were planted before the rainy season, which may have accounted for the low germination, being washed away in the heavy rains.
“Once again thank you very much for your support and the care you have for environment”.
Sesbania growing at the Namasoli School boundary
The project has demonstrated that seedballs can be used to grow plants successfully, Individual seedballs cost around 1.2 Kenyan Shillings (that’s less than 1p each). As established seedlings are sold for almost 20x that amount, even a low germination rate, makes seedballs an economic option. However different groups had vastly different success rates.
This seems to be due to a number of factors:
- The management (or lack of management) of each seedball project
- The choice of seeds
- The timing and method of planting
- Local weather conditions
- Watering and weeding
- Regular monitoring of the seedballs as they grow.
It is clear that seedballs do require nurturing.
Choosing the right seeds for the area is vital and local villagers or school children must be committed to the planting. It is clear that the seeds need to be tended once planted. In some cases, the seeds have been suffocated by weeds which have been allowed to grow around them, and elsewhere seedlings have been eaten by goats and cattle that roam nearby.
And like all things new, there was some confusion about the seedballs themselves. Some villagers were found to have spent time breaking the charcoal to extract the seed.
Seedballs, like all other forms of agriculture, remain subject to the vagaries of the weather. Extended hot dry seasons are often followed by heavy rains. Neither is ideal for planting.