Bold Impact Africa: A 3-Day Introductory GB Zoom Workshop Simon Nyaga, Director of Kenyan NGO Bold Impact Africa, promotes GROW BIOINTENSIVE (GB) among smallscale farmers, as well as environmental conservation, childhood/youth development, advocacy, community/ policy development, and entrepreneurship for women and youth groups. He holds degree (BSc. CRM) from Kenyatta University, learned GB with our partners at the GROW BIOINTENSIVE Agriculture Centre of Kenya (G-BIACK) and is participating in the African GB Teacher Certification pilot program (a collaboration between G-BIACK and our international partner for Latin America ECOPOL/EM). Simon sent us this report about a hybrid online/onsite 3-Day Introductory GB workshop he taught in August 2025, an excellent example of how appropriate use of technology can help GB reach as many people as possible. Thank you for your work, Simon!
This month’s training was extremely engaging especially for the many young people studying agriculture at Murang’a University of Agriculture and Technology who showed so much enthusiasm to learn about GROW BIOINTENSIVE. The majority of farmers who attended the workshop mentioned they had never heard or practiced the method, while some said they heard through farmers who attended previous online GB training and then referred them to the workshop.
The farmers expressed a strong interest in learning how to practice sustainable and biointensive agriculture that maximizes yields, while minimizing costs and resource use. They wanted to understand innovative and modern techniques for producing food with minimal inputs, improving soil fertility and health, utilizing water efficiently, and transforming dry lands into productive farms. Many hoped to gain practical knowledge on where to begin with land preparation, crop selection and also farm planning and design. Armed with the areas they wanted to learn from and focusing on GROW BIOINTENSIVE agriculture, I took time to conducted an intensive training on GB. The training began with informing farmers on the many benefits of using the method to set the stage and environment for learning by creating interest and curiosity about it. This worked because many showed a lot of interest in learning more about GB. The 3 days involved a lot of heavy lifting in exploring and training the registered farmers on all the principles of GB such as deep soil preparation, composting, intensive planting, companion planting, carbon farming, calorie farming, open pollinated seeds, and whole system approach. We dived deep in every principle ensuring that farmers understood its implementation and importance in contribution to sustainable farming systems. Drawn from the successes of the previous training, I used lots of photos, videos, and illustrations to drive understanding and appreciation GB mini-farming, and connecting theory to practice. A big component of the interest expressed by the farmers was sustainable soil management, and particularly composting. All the farmers mentioned that they did not compost and wanted to learn how to practice composting to reduce cost on purchased fertilizers. This was an opportunity train them step by step on how to compost, highlighting that GB compost piles should not be turned. We explored different types of composts, materials to use in their ratios, and how to effectively manage a GB compost pile. Videos from Ecology Action and Bold Impact Africa helped in assisting farmers to have visual learning of compost making and management, including compost harvesting and storage. Under soil fertility management, knowledge on "AWOMB" [from EA Booklet 38: "A properly double- dug bed creates AWOMB: which nurtures the health of soil and plants. AWOMB = Air, Water, Organic matter, Minerals, and soil Biology."] also helped greatly where farmers learned how to manage and improve their soil sustainably. I trained them step by step on how each farmer can leverage on learning their soils from AWOMB perspective through observation and through a soil lab analysis. For a majority who said that soil testing is expensive and not accessible especially for rural and hard to reach farmers, I advised them the best way to test their soils using the crops that they grow in their farms. I also sent additional materials from John Beeby’s class on how to learn their soils by observing their crops. However, we explored different soil test results with the farmers to allow them understand what is tested and the nutrients levels of each and also the significance of conducting a laboratory soil test. Farmers also benefited from doing a farm design using the 60:30:10 rule. This helped them have the knowledge to even do diet designs at household level. Assignments were given to farmers to gauge the level of understanding in farm design and addressed any challenges faced in designing their farms using the 60:30:10. Reports from past trained farmers We continue to receive good reports from the past farmers we have trained. We have agreed to continue working together and to have a meeting the beginning of October to learn how they have prepared themselves for the October-December shorts rains, leveraging the information they have learned about using the GROW BIOINTENSIVE method.
A few months later, we experienced our biggest harvests yet, sharing the food in joy and abundance. I didn’t know it then, but this was just the beginning of my journey into the depths of the biointensive method. Now, through my time at VGFP, taking the 8-Month Internship, designing a diet plan, and preparing to teach this invaluable knowledge back in Chapala, I feel deep gratitude. Gratitude for all those who have walked this path before me, making it easier for those of us who continue the work of building a better world. I am committed to carrying forward this ancient knowledge of working with nature—nurturing ourselves, our communities, and our planet for generations to come. ♥ top | Newsletter Home |Table of Contents| Archive
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The September 3-day GROW BIOINTENSIVE
introductory workshop
was a blended training which happened
on 24th- 26th September in Murang’a
county, Kenya. Training was conducted
during the 1st Kilimo festival and
conference at Murang’a University of
Technology and attended by 20 farmers physically and 11
farmers attended online. The income from this month’s
3-day workshop was 160 dollars.. 
