It is a bright Tuesday morning, on the 16th of May, 2023 in Kakamega County, Kenya where the sun's golden rays gently illuminate the lush landscape, welcoming us to a mesmerizing farm owned by the Shibuye Community Health Workers' community-based organization (CBO). In 1999, 15 women founded this grassroots, women-led organization to provide care to community members when HIV was declared a national disaster in Kenya. Since then, the group has grown to include close to 2,000 women.

On this particular day, a team from USAID Advancing Nutrition, led by Capacity Strengthening Advisor Joyce Nyaboga, is checking in on the CBO. USAID Advancing Nutrition has been working with Shibuye to strengthen its systems in implementing coordinated multi-sector nutrition interventions that benefit the local communities. 

The team is warmly welcomed by some of the women in the organization who are busy assessing the progress of their farm, including their cone gardens where they have planted highly nutritious crops such as the isukha and murenda—vegetables indigenous to the area. Violet Shivutse, director and founder of Shibuye, warmly welcomes the team.