Growing vegetables around the equator
Growing produce in the equatorial regions naturally poses many challenges as well as opportunities. The Abo farmers’ group is located in the Merù region, some 180 km from Nairobi. The fields are on the equator, and the sun shines straight down on them. The latitude of the region, in combination with the weather, make it a farmer’s paradise for growing produce and other products: sunny and warm by day, cool at night. The weather can be unruly at times—a sunny day can sometimes give way to a sudden heavy rainstorm.

The farmers in the group have been growing produce for 20 years and in the past, the individual farmers had a lot of trouble with unreliable buyers. To resolve this problem, some years ago they joined together to form the Abo farmers’ group, which now includes 116 farmers. They are now doing better in cooperation with partners Tropical Fresh and FairFields, especially in the sales process and of course in the Fair Trade production process and developments for the future.