 FARM-Africa started in Kenya in September 1985. It was set up by Sir Michael Wood, then the recently retired Director of AMREF (the African Medical Research Foundation) and ex- East Africa Director of Oxfam, David Campbell. Both shared a vision of a prosperous rural Africa and common ideas on how this could be achieved. Beginnings
The first FARM-Africa project, in 1986, was the Kenya Pastoralist Development Project, which promoted the camel and supported the pastoral way of life.The Ethiopian Dairy Goat Project followed, focusing on improving family welfare by increasing the productivity of local goats managed by women. This project led to similar schemes in Kenya, (the Meru Dairy Goat and Animal Healthcare Project) and Tanzania (the Babati Rural Development Project). In 1991, FARM-Africa expanded its work to include the Eastern and Northern Cape Provinces of South Africa - building relationships with rural communities neglected under the Apartheid Regime. Since then FARM-Africa projects have expanded throughout Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and more recently Southern Sudan. Read more about our programmes  Challenging times
Dr Christie Peacock was promoted to Chief Executive in 1999 and as the organisation faced many financial challenges at that time, she took steps to cut costs and significantly diversify funding sources to include trusts, the general public and private companies amongst others, ensuring that FARM-Africa's work could continue and reducing its dependency on statutory donors. Future strategy
During 2002 FARM-Africa developed a new strategy, Towards 2015: Innovative Solutions for Africa's Rural Livelihoods. It recruited new staff in Africa and the UK and achieved greater financial security with the help of a larger fundraising department which implemented a successful fundraising strategy. In 2002, FARM-Africa was chosen as one of three charities to benefit from the 2002 Telegraph Christmas Appeal. The final amount received was £386,979 and was used to set up the Uganda Dairy Goat Project in August 2003. This project is unique for FARM-Africa as it is the first established solely though FARM-Africa's own funds. Read more about FARM-Africa's Strategy | 
