Together with Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST) and a local entrepreneur, two students from Delft UT will build a greenhouse in Kenya.
Think BIG Foundation
On the Campus of the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST) with the help of Students 4 Sustainability and students from the TU Delft two greenhouses are constructed. These greenhouses will be used to give students from the JOOUST the opportunity to bring their theoretical knowledge from their studies into practice. Next to that the greenhouse will be used as knowledge centre about greenhouse farming for the community.
The Bondo region has two periods of draught per year, the longest one means a period of two months without rain. During this time it is almost impossible to cultivate fruits or vegetables and most fields are abandoned. Greenhouse farming is a solution to this problem as it offers a controllable environment for your crops. Besides that the greenhouse offers protection against pests and diseases that are freely circulating outside. This results in generally bigger and better fruits than the open field crops.
To make greenhouse farming more popular in the region the JOOUST, the ministry of agriculture in Bondo and students of the TU Delft founded the Think BIG Foundation. This foundation wants to make greenhouses in the region more successful and accessible by offering courses on greenhouse farming and leasing out greenhouses to farmers.
Courses
On the JOOUST a course on greenhouse farming is given that is developed in cooperation with the JOOUST, students from the TU Delft and the ministry of agriculture in Bondo. Because most people underrate the difference of greenhouse farming compared to open field farming a lot of greenhouses in the region fail. The course prevents this by teaching about management and greenhouse farming skills.
Greenhouse leasing
To give all the farmers a chance to own their own greenhouse the Foundation is developing a greenhouse leasing program. This means the farmer will get a greenhouse but does not have to pay for the initial investments. The payment will start After his first harvest.
