By BARNABAS BII bbii@ke.nationmedia.com AND PHILIP BWAYO pbwayo@ke.nationmedia.com
IN SUMMARY
- “The project has proved successful by providing food security and sustainable income generation to communities that have experienced recurrent starvation,” said Daniel Daimo, the association’s technical assistance manager.
Recurrent food shortages in West Pokot County could be a thing of the past as more pastoralists turn to irrigated agriculture as an alternative source of income and food security.
The semi-arid county is being transformed into a productive farming region as hundreds of herdsmen diversify to crop production using water from the Kerio River and other diverse sources.
And now the third phase of the project responsible for luring residents from pastoralism to agriculture—the Wei Wei irrigation scheme—has received funding from the Italian Government to irrigate 275 hectares of land to enable more than 600 pastoralist families to invest in subsistence and cash crop farming.
According to Wei Wei Farmers Association acting manager Mark Meut the members earned over Sh40 million from last season’s harvest of maize, sorghum, bananas, fruit and vegetables.
Mr Meut said more than 100,000 farmers in West Pokot and Turkana counties have invested in crop production techniques under furrow and drip irrigation following the return of calm to the region that witnessed protracted cattle rustling and banditry activities over the years.
“The project has proved successful by providing food security and sustainable income generation to communities that have experienced recurrent starvation,” said Daniel Daimo, the association’s technical assistance manager.
He said about 160 farmers in phases one and two of the scheme working an estimated 280 hectares earned Sh100,000 from maize and sorghum harvests—far better returns compared to livestock rearing.
Mr Meut said farmers are loaned farm inputs by the Kenya Seed Company and the costs are deducted after their produce is harvested and sold.
“When Wei Wei Scheme was started more than 20 years ago, most people in this area did not grow or eat vegetables. They valued their animals as source of food and wealth,” said Mr Meut, adding that the community had embraced the project after benefitting from it.
“The villagers now appreciate the nutritional value and economic potential of farming,” said John Kwatemoi, Kerio Valley Development Authority project manager in charge of the scheme.
He said farmers grow high value crops like watermelon, onions and kale using drip irrigation, and the sales boost their income, improving their living standards.
But Mr Kwatemoi lamented that the lack of trained agricultural field officers, scarcity of farm machinery and damaged irrigation pipes were some of the challenges facing the farmers. He said KVDA spent about Sh300,000 last season to repair water intakes and irrigation pipes damaged by floods.
According to KVDA managing director David Kimosop, West Pokot and Turkana counties will also benefit from a huge sugar cane production project expected to cost an estimated Sh9 billion.