With help from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a small but influential Kenyan women's group is helping researchers preserve bottle gourds, one of Africa's earliest domesticated plants and one of its most endangered. Located 160 kilometers west of Nairobi in the village of Kitui, the group has established a Gourd Museum that houses a growing community genebank, as well as an informal library of songs, stories, and indigenous knowledge.