Extension’s Role in Bringing African Farming Practices to Minnesota

Rose Kerubo, a Kenyan farmer (right), discusses her growing strategies and pest management with Annalisa Hultberg, Extension food systems educator
Rose Kerubo, a Kenyan farmer (right), discusses her growing strategies and pest management with Annalisa Hultberg, Extension food systems educator

With funding from the USDA Scientific Cooperation and Research Program, University of Minnesota Extension and Kisii University partnered to help female farmers in Kenya improve the quality of their vegetables in the field and on the way to markets. Now, those farmers are helping growers in Minnesota, via Extension.  

“We needed to learn more about African crops and how they are usually grown in order to help farmers in Minnesota who are looking for support,” says Natalie Hoidal, one of two Extension food systems educators who visited Kenya in 2023. “It’s also helping us develop more precise recommendations on nutrients, pests, and planting times so emerging farmers can grow their crops more successfully in Minnesota.”  

Most Minnesota gardeners and farmers have never heard of jute mallow, kittley, spider wisp. But there are Minnesotans who know, grow, and love these vegetables. They come from Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Somalia, Ethiopia, and beyond.   

“International partnerships, like the one with Kisii University, help Extension educators get to know the communities that are moving into Minnesota and where they are coming from culturally,” says John Vreyens, Director of Global Initiatives in Extension. “These cross-cultural skills will help educators adapt their programs to meet the needs of the community.”  

Three people looking at vegetables at a market
Chidi Chidozie (center), U of M Extension Master Gardener volunteer in Hennepin County, joins a conversation between a UMN Plant Breeding Center student and a participant in a St. Paul campus African plants event

As a University-trained Extension Master Gardener volunteer, Chidi Chidozie is experienced in relaying research-based information. As a Nigerian American who has gardened his whole life, he’s passionate about the plants.  

“My dream is to create a global garden, where everyone can share the plants from their cultures,” he says.  

People might not expect many African plants to grow in Minnesota. “Surprisingly many of them do,” says Chidozie. “A bigger challenge is sourcing the seeds.”  Chidozie obtains seeds from contacts in Texas, but winter in Minnesota often arrives before the plants develop seedheads. He’s working with the plant breeding program in the University’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences with a goal to grow some of these vegetables here.   

Vreyens explains, “It’s an example of going from Extension into research, and just another way Extension continues to connect with residents of the state on what they identify as a need and interest.”