Red Rock Brewery, a small brewery in Devon, has launched a beer called “African Sunset” which is now on sale.  They are generously donating money from each bottle sold to an agricultural project at Imprezza Academy in Kenya.  Land at the school will be used to teach best-practice methods to the local community – the first step into adult education.  As well as helping the local community through training, Imprezza Academy will be able to increase its own food production.  Imprezza is now one of the Eden Project’s “Gardens for Life” schools and access to their expertise and links with agricultural colleges in Kenya will really help.  Teaching will focus on organic farming so that techniques will be much more sustainable as no-one there can afford artificial fertilizers.  In addition to planting crops, animal husbandry will also be taught.

This is a very exciting step forward.  Imprezza Academy is in the poorest part of Kenya where many people only eat every other day even in normal times.  The project will be small to begin with, but we have applied for funding which would enable us to run a course for 20 people at a time.  Imprezza’s commitment to open access to people of any religion, nationality or tribe and ensuring equal opportunities for women will apply to this agricultural project just as it does to the school.

Do keep watching for progress reports.  As Kenya faces their current drought situation with its associated rocketing food prices, it is timely to be taking steps which will help the Kenyan community around Imprezza to increase local food production and associated methods of water conservation.

Imprezza Academy, Busia is based in the West of Kenya on the border with Uganda and is therefore quite a long way from the drought area.  HOWEVER, they are suffering from the knock-on effects on a daily basis.  Food prices have increased by over 40% locally and there are reports of a 60% increase in the Nairobi area, which suggests that things will only get worse.  The school at Imprezza is struggling desperately to afford these unbudgeted increases in food prices.  Operation Imprezza is finding it challenging to increase the weekly donation to help the school at this difficult time.

How can you help?  By making a donation or running a fund-raising event to help us get through this emergency.  You will see from our new Agricultural Project (detailed elsewhere on the website) that we are planning to offset these food cost rises through greater self-sufficiency.

The second phase of the building work continues unaffected by the drought as funding for this is in place although labour costs may rise as food prices increase.

Highlights include:

- Updates on progress at the site
- Details/pictures of the build process and equipment completed so far
- Information on fundraising events

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