Within sustainability and social change, stories often emerge that inspire and challenge the status quo. One such narrative is that of University College Utrecht alumna Benedetta (Bena) Kyengo ‘15, a determined advocate for sustainable living and equitable development. Bena is the founder of Feedback to the Future, an organisation committed to fostering resilient communities in Kenya and East Africa through regenerative practices and collaborative partnerships. Her journey from humble beginnings to a force for change encapsulates resilience, determination, and a commitment to making a difference.

Bena grew up in the slums of Nairobi. Witnessing the challenges faced by her community, she became actively involved in initiatives aimed at its betterment. Her passion for uplifting her community led her to establish an NGO called Mukuru Talent Development, dedicated to providing educational support to children. Through her organisation offering internships to participants of the UCU East Africa Programme, Bena became connected with UCU. Through academic achievements and community fundraising efforts, she enrolled at UCU in 2012. At UCU, she majored in geography and political science with a minor in anthropology and engaged in campus discussions around permaculture and climate change. She fostered connections with fellow students and faculty members and extended her network beyond campus.

After graduating in 2015, Bena returned to her grandmother’s land after many years. When she arrived, she was heartbroken; the place where she found solace during her childhood among thriving and abundant vegetation was now barren and depleted. Swayed by agricultural consultants, her grandmother had switched to monoculture farming, impoverishing the soil and impacting her livelihood. At that time, the government encouraged small farming families to switch to monoculture cash crop farming which were detrimental. This experience intensified Bena’s passion for tackling social and climate-related issues, particularly in African regions. She returned to Utrecht to pursue a master in Geoscience in Sustainable Business and Innovations, delving into topics like sustainability and the circular economy. Throughout her studies at UCU and UU, Bena gained valuable perspectives on how her homeland was perceived and addressed globally and was determined to effect tangible change in Kenya.

From barren to abundant

Then and now, Kenya’s population has been rapidly expanding. Currently at 57 million and projected to reach 83 million by 2050, the nation faces imminent socio-economic challenges, including unemployment and food shortages. Climate change exacerbates these issues, alongside large-scale farming practices reliant on intensive fertilizers and pesticides, leading to challenges like drought and soil depletion. Therefore, there is an urgent need to adopt alternative farming methods, such as regenerative agriculture, which focuses on restoring vital resources like water, soil, biodiversity, and air quality.

Inspired by the urgency of addressing climate change and food insecurity in the area she grew up, Bena resolved to return to Kenya and make a difference firsthand. “I decided to go back to Kenya. Every time I went to the village and saw how the situation was, especially when people could not feed themselves, it was the worst. Hunger is the worst poverty you can ever have. It takes away their dignity. If you come to the Netherlands and see the poor population, and then you think of poor people back in Kenya—they don’t live like humans. I don’t even think animals in the Netherlands have such a life.”

Hunger is the worst poverty you can ever have. It takes away [people’s] dignity.

Bena’s vision to helping her region began to take shape when she bought 5 acres of land in Kwa Miui Village in Makueni county, calling it Ing’alatani (a place deemed incapable of growth). “I had this big piece of land, and it was just lying there. So, I decided to go and give it a purpose.” She immersed herself in hands-on learning, taking permaculture courses, learning about food forestry, and seeking knowledge from experts like Geoff Lawton and Elaine Ingham in permaculture and soil management. She was adamant about working on Ing’alatani with the local community and farmers to transform it, designing a ‘living lab’, where experimentation and learning go hand in hand. “There was so much curiosity and people were like, what is this? I was explaining to them about climate change and all that. And then you realize that people don’t know. They have no clue what you’re talking about,” reflects Bena. “They didn’t understand how they went for three seasons without harvesting anything. I realised there was a need for knowledge. They actually requested that I come and teach them all of the things I was talking about.”

In 2020, Bena founded Feedback to the Future to empower small-scale farmers in East Africa through regenerative farming methods like food forest cultivation, ground cover planting, composting, and rainwater collection, aiming to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and poverty. Responding to community request for knowledge, Bena and her co-founders developed a training programme designed as a blended learning approach to introduce basic food forestry concepts and aimed to make sustainable agriculture accessible to all. Over time, the training evolved to focus on syntropic agroforestry, a simpler and more practical approach for farmers.

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