Farmers within the Kerio Valley region have been urged to embrace and adopt climate-smart crops and seedlings to ensure increased income and production.
Speaking on the sidelines of ASK Show, Baringo Branch, Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) Managing Director Sammy Naporos said the move has been necessitated by the current challenges of climate change in the region, which is 80 percent Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) and faced with acute water shortage.
He encouraged farmers to plant crops like sorghum, mango fruits as well as African foxtail grass, which are resilient to climate shocks, since they require very little water, enabling farmers to get a bumper harvest.
Naporos made the call after his organisation bagged six top awards in the agricultural show presided over by Governor Benjamin Cheboi.
He noted that interventions of climate change are something which the authority is passionately championing across the seven counties of operation, therefore calling on farmers to also play their role.
“The African fox grass, which we are promoting for our livestock, only requires a week of rain and the farmer is able to harvest 150 bales per acre twice a season,” he explained.
Naporos added that the authority has intensified training for local farmers with the aim of building their capacity in order to benefit from cash crops, livestock and other resources that are available within the region.
The MD at the same time highlighted key achievements realised by the authority so far, including the establishment of solarised boreholes and water pans to support farmers within the Kerio Valley region, which he noted had to a larger extent mitigated the issue of banditry and cattle rustling.
In his remarks, Cheboi said his administration supports use of modern agricultural technologies to boost productivity, sustainability and food security within the county.
He took special focus on cash crops like coffee and macadamia, which do very well in the highland areas of the county, noting that they can fetch them high income and in turn change their livelihoods.
Meanwhile, KVDA scoped the first position at the Agricultural Show in Kabarnet town for the best stand demonstrating the application of environmental quality standards, the best government social functions stand, the best organisation in community projects service stand, the best stand that promotes national cohesion and integration development, as well as the best local manufacturers stand.
By Benson Kelio and Joshua Kibet
