By GPC News Desk
In many Kenyan homes, sukuma wiki is the dependable companion on the dinner table — affordable, easy to prepare and, for many families, a meal that rarely grows tiresome.
At Nyakembene Location in Boikanga Ward, South Mugirango Constituency, sukuma wiki is also becoming a source of income for a group of women who have turned their kitchen garden crop into a small but growing enterprise.
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The Ikoro Farmers Self Help Group has embraced kale farming, producing lush green crops that thrive through both sunshine and rain.
The women were visited on September 13, 2026, through the Bidii na Jasho La Mama Mashinani Initiative of the Essy Okenyuri Nyaituga Foundation.
Their farms offered a glimpse of what consistent effort can achieve. \
“The kales were leafy, green and healthy — a reflection of the care the women put into tending their crops,” wrote Senator Essy Okenyuri.
During good seasons, the group can harvest and pack up to six sacks of kales, which are transported to Rongo for sale.
The income from the sales is divided between savings and reinvestment. Part of the proceeds goes into the group’s savings, while the remainder is used to maintain and expand their farming activities.
For the women, sukuma wiki is an economic activity that puts money in their hands while giving them an opportunity to build something collectively.
“This is precisely what Bidii na Jasho La Mama Mashinani seeks to encourage,” said Okenyuri, whose foundation runs the initiative.
She said the programme was focused on supporting women in strengthening enterprises they were already pursuing rather than simply giving them temporary assistance.
“We want to support hardworking women, strengthen what they are already doing and help them build sustainable enterprises,” Okenyuri said.
The foundation also contributed towards supporting the Ikoro Farmers Self Help Group, describing the gesture as a modest show of encouragement and solidarity with the women’s efforts.
Okenyuri said the initiative would continue reaching women and grassroots groups across Kisii County, with an emphasis on practical financial knowledge.
“We meet and engage our mothers and local women groups wherever they are at the grassroots to listen, educate and inform them on how they can save, borrow and invest,” she said.
For the Ikoro women, each sack of sukuma wiki leaving their farms is a reminder that an ordinary crop, nurtured with patience and hard work, can become a pathway to savings, enterprise and greater financial independence.
“As the kales continue to sprout through the changing weather, the women are tending an investment in their own future,” Okenyuri said.
Okenyuri summed up the philosophy behind the initiative simply: “An informed woman translates to an empowered community.”
