For over four years Ashley Palmer-Watts, head chef of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, which holds 2 stars in the Michelin Guide UK, has been working with Farm Africa, a charity dedicated to helping farmers across eastern Africa grow their way out of poverty.

In 2012 he first visited their Aqua Shop project in western Kenya and met Joyce, a fish farmer, learning first-hand about the opportunities and challenges she, and others like her, face every day. She had one fishpond at the time, but by the end of his stay Ashley had started pegging out a new pond with her to help build up her business.

He was so motivated by what he saw that on his return to the UK he held a fundraising dinner to launch Farm Africa’s fundraising campaign Food for Good and then a year later, despite being scared of heights, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the charity. In April this year he collaborated with other chefs Tom Kerridge and John Freeman in designing the menu for the Farm Africa gala dinner held at the V&A in London.

>>> Related: Ashley Palmer-Watts, Dinner by Heston London and Melbourne

In January 2017 Ashley is set to return to Kenya to visit Joyce and her family again to see the new pond she has named ‘Ashley’s Pond’ and also to find out more about the next steps in the Aquaculture Project. Going with him this time will be Dennis Mwakulua, Group Chef at Eversheds, where they will join Alan Murungi, master brewer and owner of Sierra.

This time however his visit to Kenya has an additional purpose!

Ashley will be launching Nairobi Restaurant Week 2017 with a gala dinner on January 19 at the Tribe Hotel in Nairobi attended by over 200 guests. Nairobi Restaurant Week, which is the creation of Eat Out and Yummy Magazine Kenya, will run from January 26 to February 4 and Farm Africa has been chosen as the beneficiary charity in 2017.

With the two other chefs Ashley will be holding a question and answer session in the morning and then going on to create a fabulous dinner using produce from the Farm Africa projects that will be enjoyed by other chefs and restaurateurs, donors and key individuals who help to make the work of the charity a reality.

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