Exploring one approach to food sovereignty: A case study of a Kenyan community-based organization

Abstract: This ethnographic case study analyses ecological, socio-cultural and economic practices taking place in a community-based organization (CBO), Organic Technology Extension and Promotion of Initiative Centre (OTEPIC), in rural Trans Nzoia County, Kenya, in order to understand how food sovereignty is promoted for community members and local small scale farmers in the given geographical context. Through a nine-week-long fieldwork, which incorporated participatory observation, semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion, I reached findings that describe the ways in which OTEPIC promotes food sovereignty. OTEPIC’s ecological and economic practices and teachings are based on self-sufficiency in food, water, and energy, through a mix of various techniques from: agroecology; permaculture; bio-intensive and organic farming; green technology and water retention landscaping. The methods based on using locally available resources, and thus depending les upon the corporate food regime, are applied both on OTEPIC’s own land and taught in demonstration courses for small scale farmers in Trans Nzoia. Through building a social security network and providing a peaceful community meeting space for members, OTEPIC is creating a place-based culture of locality based on ethnic equality. The case study demonstrates that there is a need for capacity building, an economic plan for slowly cutting down external monetary funding, as well as an allocation of responsibilities among members, in order for them to connect with the food sovereignty vision and secure the sustainability of the project.