1986-1991
The long journey of Resources Oriented Development Initiatives (RODI) started in late 1986 when Eliud Ngunjiri, then Programme Officer with Oxfam GB attended the first Organic Farming workshop in Kenya, organized by Catholic Diocese of Nakuru at Baraka Agricultural College. The workshop provided Eliud with an answer to a problem he was grappling with, enhancing food production among poor small-scale farmers who could not afford modern agriculture inputs. With an alternative way of reaching out to poor farming communities Mr. Ngunjiri sent Erastus Maina to study Bio-intensive Agriculture at Manor House Agricultural Centre, Kitale in 1987. He also embarked on a programme of placing students from the same college to Oxfam funded CBOs and NGOs to spread the idea of low-cost sustainable agriculture. In 1989 after leaving college Erastus began a voluntary initiative of reaching out to small scale farmers who could not afford the expensive conventional agriculture inputs and therefore skipped by mainstream extension service providers was started in West Pokot district. It was known as the Organic Farming Outreach Programme (OFOP). The Ministry of Agriculture saw the gap OFOP was filling and the impact it had on poor small-scale farmers and agreed to a request of allowing the initiative to be piggy-backed on its work.
1992-1997
In 1993, OFOP received its first external financial support from UNDP Africa 2000 Network to promote organic farming. OFOP also relocated to Nyahururu at the height of politically instigated tribal clashes; once again the organization registered as a CBO with the ministry of Culture and Social Services. Oxfam organized an international water workshop in Kisumu; and participants wanted to see a water gravity intake which happened to be in Kisumu Prison. It is during this visit that Mr. Ngunjiri noted that in spite of having a lot of human, land and water resources Kisumu prison was not self-sufficient in food. The excuse given was lack of conventional agriculture inputs in the name of industrial fertilizer, chemicals for disease and pest control.
OFOP promised to provide an alternative way of farming- Low-Cost Sustainable Agriculture. This marked the beginning OFOP’s work with prisoners; the purpose then was to help Kisumu prison to produce enough food using organic farming skills. In 1994,OFOP registered in Kisumu as a Community based Organization. OFOP got a grant from Oxfam GB to run prisoner rehabilitation activities in Kisumu Annex and Kisumu Women prisons. Kakamega Men and Women prisons, Shikusa prison and Shikusa Borstal Institution as well as Kibos prison Kapsabet Men and Women, Eldoret Men and Women, Ngeria Farm prison were brought on board.
1998-2003
In 1998 The organization opened its office in Nairobi on Ngong Road. In 1999, the organization was officially registered as an NGO and changed the name from OFOP to RODI. The same year RODI received its 1st funding from Tudor Trust. RODI also relocated to Ruiru and began work with Ruiru, Thika Men and Women, Kamiti and Kiambu prisons.
In 2001 GLS Trusteeship gave RODI the first grant and has maintained partnership that co funds PREP to date. This saw the inception of the Prisoner AIDS and Counselling Project, initially without funding but later with support from Action Aid. In 2003 The Schools Organic Agriculture Programme (SOAP) whose aim is to nurture a culture of sustainable agriculture and to reduce the influx of young offenders into prison was started through local resource mobilization and later got support from Tudor Trust. This scaled up the project to eventually cover 18 schools including special ones: for juveniles and for children with physical disabilities. Drug and substance abuse, HIV&AIDS were also included in the SOAP.
2004-2009
RODI organized an international workshop called Restorative Justice: Good Prisoner Rehabilitation Practice. The workshop brought together senior prison officers and NGO representatives from six African countries: Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa, and Cameroon. In 2005, RODI started Table Banking and started working with community groups formed around ex-prisoners with initial support of start-up kit from GLS. In 2006 RODI extended its Prisoner Rehabilitation work to Nyeri prisons. RODI’s Campaign and Advocacy activities in the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)’s was funded by Oxfam in in the same year. In 2007 RODI rolled out the PREP activities to include Nairobi West, Jamhuri and Athi River prisons. RODI entered into partnership with Kenyatta University for its students to train HIV in prisons.
In 2008 RODI developed the first Strategic Plan, RODI became a member of Regional Schools and Colleges Permaculture Programme (ReSCOPE). The organization also entered into partnerships with organizations such as KANCO, Reach the Children, NACADA, Probation Department, Children Department.
2010-2015
In 2010 RODI received funding from AusAID to implement a one-year Natural Resource Management, Hygiene Water and Sanitation project with the aim of improving the water and sanitation conditions, natural resource management and access to safe drinking water in the schools and community. In 2012 RODI received a second phase funding from AusAID which ran from June 2011 to June 2012 reaching 13 more community groups. In the same year RODI expanded its target to include pretrial detainees and crime prevention. This was made possible by support from Foundation for Open Society Initiative (FOSI) and Open society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA). In 2013, RODI started an engagement with Bread for the World and participated in the workshops developed by Bread for the World. In 2014 RODI started the development of the RODI Training and Conference Centre by setting up a demonstration farm. In 2015 RODI received funds from Tudor trust to construct the office block and conference.
2016-2021
RODI in 2016 received the first grant from Bread for the World.
In collaboration with the Legal Resources Foundation and NCAJ, RODI conducted the first criminal justice audit of the Kenyan justice system at the conditions of detention and cash flow management. This audit was launched in 2017 after the formation of the NCAJ Committee on Criminal Justice Reform with RODI becoming a member of the committee. RODI received funding from GLS in 2017 to build the RODI conference centre and the cafeteria. In 2018, RODI got accreditation with NITA to offer vocational courses in hygiene and sanitation, Agro-process, and digital literacy. RODI also launched a Centre for Holistic Education and Agroecology (CHEA). In 2019 RODI received funding from Global Fund for Community Foundation (GFCF) through AMREF to conduct TB Screening at Police Stations. In that year RODI Kenya started moving its office from the RODI office at the Ruiru Catholic Church to the RODI Training and Conference Centre.
In 2020 RODI expanded its work to reach out to Turkana County targeting Prisons, schools, refugees and host communities. A collaboration begun with Mott Foundation through LRF to support Access to Justice Project in Nairobi County. In 2021, RODI started the ECOSIA and PELCA projects with funding from GLS and Tudor Trust respectively. RODI also begun the development of Plot B in Ruiru.
2022-Ongoing
In 2022, Global Fund for Community Foundation (GFCF) provided support to RODI’s Local Resource Mobilization Project. The same year RODI expanded the KIC TB screening project to Nairobi County
2020-2024 RODI’s third phase of its Strategic Plan is ongoing.