The Real Dirt on Farming

The Real Dirt on Farming — Stories From the Ground Up.

The Accidental Farmer Podcast is where curiosity meets the soil. Join Joseph Okelo as he uncovers the truth behind organic and regenerative farming — the mistakes, breakthroughs, and resilience it takes to work with nature, not against it.

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About Accidental Farmer

The Journey That Started It All

The Accidental Farmer Podcast was born out of frustration, curiosity, and a deep desire to understand why farming — especially organic farming — can be so brutally humbling. I began this journey as an over-eager farmer, convinced that passion, education, and determination were enough to conquer the challenges of growing food the right way. I was wrong. Farming educated me — sometimes gently, often harshly. I was punished by failed crops, unpredictable weather, pests, and the unrelenting truth that agriculture does not bend to enthusiasm alone.

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Real conversations. Real lessons. Real dirt. Explore episodes featuring farmers, innovators, and thinkers shaping the future of sustainable agriculture.

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Real conversations. Real lessons. Real dirt. Explore episodes featuring farmers, innovators, and thinkers shaping the future of sustainable agriculture.

About Accidental Farmer

The Real Dirt on Farming

The Accidental Farmer is a candid, inspiring, and often humorous journey into the real world of farming in Kenya. Hosted by entrepreneur-turned-farmer Joe Okelo, the podcast digs beneath the soil of everyday agriculture to reveal the triumphs, setbacks, surprises, and hard-won lessons that come with trying to build a sustainable farming life.

Each episode features honest conversations with farmers, agripreneurs, scientists, innovators, chefs, conservationists, and thinkers shaping Kenya’s food and farming landscape. From microgreens to regenerative agriculture, indigenous seeds to modern agritech, family farms to climate resilience — nothing is off the table.

Whether you’re a farmer, a foodie, a dreamer with land in your heart, or someone curious about what it really takes to grow food in Africa today, this podcast gives you the stories and insights you won’t hear anywhere else.

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In today's episode we are featuring:

Dr. JC Niala
Anthropologist & Historian | University of Oxford
Head of Research, Teaching & Collections – History of Science Museum

Dr. JC Niala is an anthropologist and historian whose work explores how people, landscapes, animals, and food systems shape each other. She holds a DPhil in Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford, where her research examined how gardening and food cultivation become sites of identity, memory, and community.

JC is the Head of Research, Teaching and Collections at Oxford’s History of Science Museum, where she leads interdisciplinary projects connecting scientists, historians, creatives, and communities. Her current research explores the global history of milk production in Kenya and the UK — revealing how this everyday substance reflects deep ecological, social, and economic change.

Her public-facing work has been featured on the BBC, The Guardian, and Monocle, making her a leading voice on how food, farming, and the natural world shape our shared histories.

Dr. Johanna Zetterström-Sharp is an Associate Professor at University College London and a leading scholar of heritage, colonial history, and museum ethics. Before joining UCL, she spent more than a decade as Senior Curator of Anthropology at the Horniman Museum in London.

Dr. Johanna Zetterström-Sharp
Associate Professor, Heritage & Museum Studies | UCL Institute of Archaeology

Johanna’s research investigates how race, morality, and power shape professions such as museum curation, development work, and agricultural governance. She is the Principal Investigator of Milking It!, an AHRC-funded project exploring how milk — an ordinary, everyday food — carries stories of identity, belonging, and colonial legacy in Kenya and the UK.

She has held a prestigious British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship and leads several major research projects on heritage, cultural politics, and how societies navigate post-colonial change.

Johanna brings a sharp, thoughtful lens to understanding how history — and the ethics of telling it — continue to shape our food systems and our future.

Episode 17:Milking the Truth: What Really Lies Behind Your Glass

Need of professional resourced agriculturalist aggregators in the value chain development.

Episode 16:Improving Agricultural market systems: Aggregation in Kenya

Charles Warria is a development strategist, ecosystem builder, and value chain specialist with over two decades of experience in designing and implementing transformative market systems across Africa. A self-described “dot connector,” Charles works at the intersection of private enterprise, agriculture, water, and digital innovation — helping small and medium enterprises unlock growth and create meaningful social and economic impact.

Passionate about inclusive business models, Charles has spent his career linking smallholder farmers, traders, and processors to opportunities that expand market access, productivity, and shared prosperity. He is equally at home in boardrooms and on smallholder farms — working with governments, development partners, and enterprises to design sustainable solutions that drive sector transformation.

A founding member of the Evaluation Society of Kenya, and an active member of several international learning networks including AfrEA, Outcome Mapping Learning Community, and AfriCOP-MfDR, Charles combines analytical rigor with storytelling flair. He believes that data should not just inform decisions but tell compelling stories of change.

Today, Charles supports enterprises and organisations across Africa to design business models, strategic plans, and impact measurement frameworks that truly make a difference.

Episode 16: Improving agricultural market systems, small and medium enterprises, ecosystem building.

Today on The Accidental Farmer, we sit down with Joyce Wambui Kamande — Co-founder and COO of Safi Organics, a Kenyan startup that’s redefining how rural communities create value from what many consider waste.

Joyce is a visionary agripreneur with a passion for empowering smallholder farmers, women, and youth. Through Safi Organics, she’s helping communities across Africa produce affordable, eco-friendly fertilizer right at the village level — boosting soil health, creating jobs, and building local resilience.

A Mandela Washington Fellow, MIT Legatum Foundry Fellow, and One Young World Ambassador, Joyce’s journey blends innovation, sustainability, and a deep commitment to rural transformation. She’s proof that when technology meets purpose, farming can truly change lives.

Episode 15: Value Addition From Waste to Organic Fertilizer

Banana stem for mulching

Gichigo James is a visionary agribusiness entrepreneur, cooperative leader, and NGO founder dedicated to transforming rural communities in Kenya. He is the CEO and Founder of Kenya Rural Food Centre (KRFC) and the Agricultural Industrial Technical Application Project (AITAP), initiatives operating across 16 counties to empower farmers through agri-industrial hubs, rural collection centres, and farmer training programs.

Since 2010, James has also led the End Poverty Resource Management Program (EPRMP), a grassroots initiative that equips vulnerable households with tools for sustainable livelihoods. In addition, as Chairman of CropLife Farmers Sacco, he has championed financial inclusion and credit access for farmers.

His leadership journey began with over a decade in missionary formation under the Contemplative Evangelizers of the Heart of Christ (CECC), grounding him in values of resilience, servant leadership, and community transformation. Today, James continues to mentor youth, farmers, and emerging leaders in agribusiness, cooperative governance, and social enterprise.

Episode 14: Beyond Farming: Building Food Systems that Empower.

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Dive behind the scenes of The Accidental Farmer Podcast, where real conversations about farming happen. Discover the stories, struggles, and breakthroughs that shape our episodes, and get exclusive updates on upcoming guests, farming tips, and the latest news from the regenerative agriculture movement.