As the guns go silent with peace prevailing in the Kerio Valley, the Elgeyo Marakwet county government has embarked on various agricultural initiatives to ensure that residents not only attain food security but also get an income.
The CEC in charge of Agriculture, Edwin Kibor, said the county had provided water pumps to 24 farmer groups in Endo, lower Sambirir, Arror, and lower Emsoo wards, which they will use for irrigation of their farms.
Speaking in Chesongoch when he presented the pumps, Kibor said each of the groups has 11 members, with each member expected to have at least one acre under irrigation, thus bringing over 260 acres under irrigation.
The CEC said for a long time, farmers in the area have been relying on water furrows for irrigation, saying the water pumps will supplement the furrows by expanding irrigation to areas where the furrows cannot reach.
He called on the groups to ensure that the pumps are not left idle but have them work full time, saying they have a capacity of irrigating 12 acres per day. He, however, appealed to them to ensure that the pumps are serviced after working for 100 hours, saying proper maintenance will ensure that they are at maximum capacity for longer.
“We are therefore appealing to the groups to ensure that they have someone who is in charge of the pump’s maintenance,” he said.
Kibor said in addition to the water pumps, the county had also distributed 2.4 tonnes of nyota beans for planting, noting this bean variety is not only highly productive but also rich in iron and zinc and therefore key in fighting the high levels of malnutrition in the area.
“We want our people to be healthy, and that is why we want our farmers to first consume the beans and sell the excess to earn money,” he said.
The CEC said with irrigation, farmers will be able to plant more than one season in a year, thus ensuring that they have food and money to meet their financial needs.
The acting director Public Health, Renson Changwony said malnutrition levels in the county stood at 22% and therefore there is the need for the consumption of bio fortified foods especially for children and pregnant mothers to improve immunity and to support their growth and development
Job Boit, a project officer with the Anglican Development Services, divulged they had so far distributed 6.1 metric tons of nyota bean seed to 3,000 households in Marakwet East sub-county.
He added that they had also, through the Department of Agriculture, identified 6 orange fresh sweet potato seed multipliers, leading to the distribution of the same for planting to 1,000 farmers, noting this was towards their efforts to improve nutrition at the household level.
Boit said they had identified 140,000 deserving cases in the sub-county and hoped to reach at least 50% by 2027 and appealed to farmers who have already benefited from both nyota beans and orange fresh sweet potatoes to share with their neighbors once they harvest, for further multiplication.
By Alice Wanjiru
