• The government also wants to rehabilitate approximately 4,000 existing water pans/small dams.
• NIA official says project will create employment, one acre creating five direct and three indirect jobs.
Farmers in Yatta, Machakos county, are shifting from relying on food aid to producing food for the domestic and export market, thanks to household irrigation projects.
Water and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki said 360 water pans have so far been constructed in Yatta.
This translates to 504,353 cubic metres of water storage with a potential of putting about 420 acres under irrigation.
Kariuki spoke on Thursday during a visit for the household irrigation water storage projects in the county.
“The community that hitherto relied on food aid is not only able to grow their own food but also produce vegetables, French beans and chillies for both export and domestic market,” she said.
“There are, however, challenges such as limited resources against a huge demand. Many farmers want their water pans desilted or a new pan for them to expand their farming, but the government has limited funds.”
She said the project, which is at 55 per cent, aims to cover residents of Machakos and Kiambu counties once it is completed in December.
“We are inspecting the project in Masinga to ensure water is available for households, towns and institutions. Despite limited resources, the project has a possibility of expanding the household water pan projects aimed at availing water through collecting rainwater,” the CS said.
The project will continue being implemented in other areas across the country. Currently, the projects are being implemented in 31 counties, she said.
“The government through the National Irrigation Authority is aiming at constructing 125,000 household irrigation water storage facilities ranging from 1,000-3,000 cubic metres by 2022 to harvest and store about 125 million cubic metres of water. This will enable about 125,000 acres to be put under irrigation,” the CS said.
The government also wants to rehabilitate approximately 4,000 existing water pans and small dams of 100,000 cubic metres each to store about 400 million cubic metres of water by 2022.
This, Kariuki said, will improve the storage capacity, hence the quality of water stored.
“400,000 acres will be put under irrigation. Another 500 new water pans will be constructed across the country of varying capacities on available public land,” she said.
Identification of the sites for construction is being carried out by NIB engineers alongside local administration and opinion leaders.
Kariuki said construction of 12,518 household irrigation water storage pans across the 31 counties is ongoing.
“This translates to 17.5 million cubic metres of storage to irrigate about 17,000 acres of land. Rehabilitation of 87 existing water pans and small dams is ongoing. Once complete, six million cubic metres of storage will be achieved and this will irrigate about 6,000 acres.”
NIA general manager Mugambi Gitonga said the project is aimed at increasing food production across the county and country through small-scale irrigation practices.
“It is also expected to create employment with one acre creating five direct and three indirect jobs. There will be a reduction of rural-urban migration by the youth in search of jobs as well as an increase to the annual contribution to GDP,” he said.
Edited by R.Wamochie