The farmers of Mount Elgon are once again reaping the fruits of their labours in the lush Kenyan countryside. After being forced out by fighting, they are returning home. Their hard work, and seed from the ICRC, are getting them back on their feet, as Anne Mucheke reports.

The hills of Mount Elgon are covered in green, interspersed with the yellow of dry maize stems bundled together. It is harvest time and the donkeys ferrying sack loads of potatoes, onions and healthy green peppers fill the roads from the farm to the market.

People like David Aramisi were farmers in Cheptais division of Mount Elgon, living off the food they sold, until violence disrupted their activities. David left his village, one of those most affected by the violence, and moved to Naivasha, almost 600 km away. There, he worked as a fisherman for several months and only returned home in March 2008 after hearing that security had returned to the area.

He could not settle in Cheptais as his home had burnt down and the situation was still unstable. So he moved to Chepkirieng, a small village at the foot of the mountain. Today David earns a living as a shopkeeper, selling food and plastic shoes. He also sells beans from a sack in the corner of his shop.

The beans are the surplus from a crop grown with seed distributed by the Red Cross in April 2008. “The harvest has been good because we planted most of the seed,” he explains. David's family ate some of the beans and saved a sack to sell at the shop.

“The crop has yielded well, supported by the urea and fertilizer the Red Cross provided,” says Issa Sirmoi, a young man who serves on the village committee.

On a nearby farm, Issa points out a plantation of young beans, explaining that this is the second crop planted from an initial harvest. All around are homesteads. Some are deserted, but most are harvesting maize grown with seed from the Red Cross.

Further up, in Chepkube, Vincas Chemogoi sits outside his homestead, his granary full of food. Beans hang out to dry on the gate, their tips tied together. His wife and children are harvesting vegetables from the garden, a stone's throw away.

Theirs is a lush area, where the mountain borders Uganda and the mobile phones switch back and forth between the Kenyan and Ugandan networks. The climate here is perfect for growing food. It rains almost every afternoon, yet the temperatures are friendly, getting warmer at the foot of the mountain.

The barn is full of maize waiting to be ground into flour to make ugali, a staple for the local people. Vincas is soft spoken and wary of strangers. It has been a difficult time for the people here. Vincas explains that he had to flee to the foot of the mountain and only returned home at the end of June, after calm had been restored.

“I bought this plot where my family lives. The original owner left and abandoned it so I took it up and paid some money,” he says. David is happy that he has some to feed his family, from the seeds planted in March. He adds that this is the second harvest from the crop; the first was in August.

At Toiyendet, Jackline Chemutai welcomes us to her home, proud to show us a crop she is about to harvest. The maize on her farm is growing well and the spring onions have matured, ready to be picked. She has eight children and her husband is out tending the cattle on a small area of land they have rented.

“This crop has been our salvation. I already harvested in August and used the money to buy soap and salt, and send our oldest son to school,” says the soft-spoken woman. Her son stands nearby, baseball cap on head and transistor radio in hand, showing that the youth of the area are well in touch with the modern world.

The skies open and it begins to rain. One man calls out from a nearby homestead, “Come and see our carrot crop as well, we are about to harvest!” His wife proudly shows us carrots and onions grown from the seed they were given. Nearby, sweet potatoes and pumpkins grow in abundance.

Mount Elgon has enviable conditions for farming but the residents say they still live in fear. “We have the best land in the country for growing crops but we do not sleep well. We do not know about tomorrow.”