MARIGAT MAARIFA CENTRE

BARINGO STAKE HOLDER’S AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITION

2011-07-23T00:24:00.000-07:00

Marigat District stakeholders organised for a county field day on 15Th June 2011 held at National Irrigation Board Model farm.The exhibition attracted over 500 people, among these were farmers, students and pupils from Agriculture clubs within Baringo county.

Various stakeholders who exhibited their products and services included: Arid Lands Information Network, Ministry of Agriculture,Kenya Agricultural Research Institute,Kenya Commercial bank among others. Click to see details

KCSE Results online at the Maarifa Centre

2011-04-13T05:27:00.000-07:00

FREE ACCESS TO INFORMATION

2011-04-13T05:20:00.000-07:00

Marigat maarifa Centre offers free access to information for all community members including the youth,disabled ,children,women and men of all age groups.

Below are the services offered at the maarifa centre:

Internet services

Computer training (Basic skills)

Library (Primary books, secondary, magazines, books, CD ROMS etc)

Advisory services

What is a Maarifa Centre?

A room or ‘fabricated container’ for information access and dissemination it is established in collaboration with local partner institutions.

· Equipped with at least 5 (five) or more computers with Internet access.

· An information hub where local knowledge is documented by communities and shared widely.

· A center equipped with information resources that include: publications, newsletters, research reports and electronically stored information such as CD ROMs, audiovisual material and compendiums.

· Managed by a Field Officer and volunteer Community Knowledge Facilitators (CKF) and an advisory committee drawn from local stakeholders

Ilng'arua Dissemination point take off

2011-03-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

In a bid to bridge the digital divide, Marigat Maarifa Centre opened a dissemination point at Ilng'arua location, Marigat District.Ilng'arua is located approximately 6 Kms from Marigat township a journey through rough road.Their main challenge is transport, there is only one pick-up that comes to Marigat in the morning and leaves at 6PM.

Communities living in the area are the Ilchamus (Njemps) .They are pastrolists but practice small-scale farming. See full Details

Information impact from Maarifa Centre

2011-03-08T05:06:00.000-08:00

JOB THROUGH MAARIFA CENTRE

2011-02-28T11:34:00.000-08:00

Marigat Maarifa Centre serves the needs of the communities by providing diverse information to improve their livelihoods.65% of the maarifa centre users are the youth, who mostly come for computer training, reading newspapers, face book, blogging and visiting sites for job vacancies.
We interviewed a frequent maarifa user who landed a job recently through maarifa centre; he had all the reasons to smile as his dreams came to pass:See full Details

ALOE SPECIES FIELD DAY

2011-02-07T07:07:00.001-08:00

Aloe species field day was organized by Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI)-, Marigat station at Loruk centre. It was aimed at providing an opportunity to local communities and other stakeholders in sharing experiences on Aloe species, aloe products and Aloe Management.
The species are important plants that have received great attention in recent years as a source of human health care products, and for their role in environmental conservation and rehabilitation of degraded areas.
See full details

Marigat Maarifa Centre Holds a Road Show

2010-09-01T03:05:00.001-07:00

Marigat Maarifa Centre organized for a roadshow on 16Th July 2010. This was aimed at publicizing maarifa centre activities and services to the community. Prior to the road show the Focal Group members had discussed and agreed on the need for the event which will foresee the enrolment of more members to the centre and also advancing the knowledge on the activities offered by the centre. This was done through distribution of IEC materials to the members of the public to enhance their knowledge on Maarifa Centre activities
See full details

A NEW DAWN FOR FARMERS IN MARIGAT

2010-07-19T04:11:00.000-07:00

Farmers in loboi location, Marigat District had all the reasons to smile as stake holders in the District came together to exchange ideas on how they can work together to improve the agricultural sector and livelihoods of the community at large.

Farmers field was organized by Kerio Valley Development Authority (KUDA) together with other stakeholders in the District who included Ministry of Agriculture, Baraka Agricultural College, Kenya Forestry Research Institute(KEFRI), Kenya Agricultural Research Institute(KARI), Ministry of Livestock , National Irrigation Board , Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) among others.

See full details

MARIGAT FOCAL GROUP FARMERS FIELD VISIT

2010-04-15T01:28:00.001-07:00

In a bid to reach to more community members especially farmers Marigat focal group members had a farmer’s field visit on 7th April. The aim of the visit was to share with the farmers how they can make good use of the information offered in the centre in order to aim. Despite the arid nature of Marigat these farmers are making good use of available resources though scarce to improve their livelihoods through farming. See Full details

COOKING WITH PROSOPIS FLOUR

2009-09-07T23:05:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Prosopis are drought-resistant, nitrogen-fixing trees, which are extremely hardy in poor and saline soils, and can grow where most other vegetation fails. The common Prosopis species in tropical drylands around the world today is P. juliflora, native to Central and South America, but introduced around the world over the past two centuries to reforest barren lands. It has many uses: for livestock fodder, wood for fuel, timber for furniture and building, livestock fencing, charcoal, medicine, pest control, shade, soil stabilization, soil fertility improvement and human food from the pods and honey from abundant flowers. However, although this tree can offer a crucial contribution to reclaiming desert lands, it has been widely condemned due to its invasive nature. It spreads rapidly by seeds along water courses and across grazing lands, and being thorny and shrubby, can quickly form impenetrable thickets, blocking roads and preventing access to water. This, coupled with the general lack of knowledge on its management and uses where introduced, has meant that up till now it is not used to its full potential in many regions where it is found.See full details

MARIGAT CKC OPEN DAY

2009-09-05T08:09:00.000-07:00

Marigat CKC held an Open Day on 21st ,August, 2009 at the Divisional Livestock Office from 10.00 .pm. The key objective of the Open Day was to reach out to more community members in a bid to inform them about the services offered at the centre. The function which involved Stakeholders in Marigat District offered them a chance to meet the community members and inform them on their products and services. This was also a good platform for them to reach out to community members as the District is still new and members of the community have yet to familiarize themselves with the stakeholders. The event also presented a good opportunity to Stakeholders to interact and exchange ideas among themselves.See full details

WRITERS WORKSHOP HELD IN MARIGAT

2009-09-05T07:50:00.000-07:00

A writers workshop targeting community development workers(CDW) from 6 CKCs in Kenya and one in Uganda and Tanzania was held at Marigat District as from 17th August to 20th August 2009.
The participants were selected from members of the focal group interested in developing their writing skills and who have attempted to write for OKN or Baobab publication. Each participant was required to come with an article focusing on either of the following themes:
See full details

About Marigat District

2009-08-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

Socio- economics:
In Marigat, semi-nomadic livestock rearing is the main economic activity of the community, though there is an increasing interest in crop production to augment the family food supply. The rangelands on which the livestock and the community depend are denuded and seriously eroded.See full details

Introduction to Marigat CKC

2009-08-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

Marigat is a newly created district in the Rift Valley province. It is situated 100km north of Nakuru and it borders East Pokot District to the north, Koibatek District to the south, Mochongoi Division to the east, Kabarnet Division to the west and Mukutani Division to the northeast.

The CKC was established by ALIN in the year 2007.It is hosted by the Ministry of Livestock who also share the same office. Inside the Community Knowledge Centre (CKC) are a number of information dissemination tools such as books, magazines, CD ROMS, computers among others. Three computers are connected to the internet through a wireless connection thus the community can access information, and send and carry out any kind of research via the internet.

Services to the Community

The following services are sought in Marigat Community knowledge center:
> Computer training
> Internet
> Research
> Creating Blogs for various groups
> Marketing local products e.g. honey, watermelon
> Library

Community Information Needs
Marigat area is arid thus pastoralism is the main source of livelihood for the community. However, some locals practice farming through irrigation. The community has several information gaps and relies a lot on the CKC for information support.

Information needs include:
> Livestock
> Marketing
> Environment
> Agriculture
> Culture
> Health
> Youth and ICT

Information resources
Information materials include books, magazines and journals. There is also a collection of soft information including Dimitra CD ROMS, Baobab CD and a tape titled “Looking after our Lands”.

The Focal Group
Marigat Focal Group is registered with Social Services and have a bank account with KCB-Marigat branch. Evelyne Kipsang heads the Focal Group. She is a farmer from Loboi location. Focal group meetings are held once a month to plan for monthly activities.