About us

The Trust

The Trust Charity

The aims of the charity are:

The prevention or relief of poverty by promoting the use of the precision planting tool known as the Barney Planter, in particular for use by small-scale farmers in developing countries.
The advancement of environmental protection and improvement by promoting the practice of Conservation Agriculture and sustainable development.

Both aims are intended to provide financial, health and environmental benefits through increased yield and soil conservation.

Conservation Agriculture is a method of farming that eliminates the need for ploughing. This simple change brings many advantages to the farmer. The Barney Planter can be made cheaply with locally available materials and skills; its use reduces fertiliser requirements while increasing yields, and it is designed to be used by women.

The Trust trains local metal workers in how to make the Barney Planter — providing a clear understanding of its purpose, along with plans, costings and jig-making — and teaches women how to use it, through practical field demonstrations to women's groups. After training, participants are given a planter, seed and fertiliser to help them make a start with Conservation Agriculture.

The Trustees

The Barney Planter Trust is run by three Trustees based in the UK, supported by Stanley Muriuki Samson in Kenya.

Stanley Muriuki Samson

Kenya field lead

Stanley is a small-scale farmer who lives near Muramati, Laikipia, Kenya. He thinks deeply about all the activities he undertakes, and his main interest is increasing food production — something he hopes to achieve through the application of Conservation Agriculture at an affordable cost.

He has expertise in evaluating technologies and identifying where modification may be needed. He and his wife are experienced with work animals, donkeys and oxen, while Stanley also handles camels. His projects have included donkey weeding to reduce chemical use on Lord Delamere's Soysambu estate, and the use of a camel scoop to increase the capacity of water pans in arid areas.

Due to his religious background, he is confident and capable addressing groups of people in a variety of local languages as well as English, holds a passport, and has been a member of Government delegations. Stanley has organised several training sessions with women's groups around the Timau area, facilitated the training of local artisans in the planter's construction, and provides demonstrations at agricultural events — most recently at Kisima Farm Conservation Agriculture Day.

Simon Taylor

Trustee

Simon met Barney's son Martin when they both attended Harper Adams Agricultural College over 30 years ago. They travelled to Kenya together, staying at Barney's smallholding in the north of the country.

Simon was brought up on a dairy farm in Cheshire, UK, and has always been involved in agriculture or horticulture, with a passion for permaculture and sustainable practices. He travelled across the USA working with local farmers and growers, and sailed around Belize before landing in Honduras, where he initiated local tree-planting projects. Simon currently looks after a large property and smallholding in West Sussex, where he plans to plant a small vineyard.

Richard Hoblyn

Trustee

Richard is a financier with over 45 years' experience in international banking, money broking, bullion trading and private stockbroking. He is a founder Fellow of the Chartered Securities & Investment Institute, London, a Member of the ifs School of Finance (Institute of Bankers), and a Council Member of the International Equity Dealers Association.

He has worked for Chartered Bank, MW Marshall & Co, and Derby & Co (Engelhard Industries), among other securities firms, managing upwards of £100M in private assets and advising various UK-listed companies. Richard specialised in TMT in the 1990s and more recently in resources, and has been involved in a number of London-listed company restructurings, as well as co-founding Black Bear Energy Resources and Selection Mines. He has particular interests in agriculture, having advised large estates on sustainability and commercial enterprise.

Martin Muckle

Trustee · Barney's son

As the son of Barney, Martin has also spent a great deal of time in Africa — from travelling to Sierra Leone at 18 months old, to teaching in Nairobi, to running a business across Kenya for six years. He has developed a lasting passion for appropriate technology in an African context, and the multi-faceted challenge of designing and building it well; he himself designed and built solar-powered computer labs for rural Kenyan primary schools.

Following his involvement in a small project to evaluate the Barney Planter run by the University of Essex, Martin discovered that the women involved had continued using the planter even after the project ended. That local acceptance is what prompted Martin to set up a charity to further its use.

Martin currently lives with his family in Northern Scotland, where he provides young people with Social, Emotional and Behavioural Needs (SEBN) support.