• A total of 13 farming groups in Miu and Muthetheni locations to get cowpeas and green grams for planting during the short rains.
• The project seeks to empower farmers through self-help groups and pushing for innovation, technology for better agricultural output.
Image: FILE
Farmers in Muthetheni and Miu locations have benefited from seed subsidies and fertiliser amounting to Sh10 million sponsored by the World Bank.
Under a programme dubbed Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project, the residents of the two locations in Mwala subcounty are being issued with green grams and cowpeas for planting. They can withstand dry weather conditions, thus promoting food security in the area.
Mutheteni location retired chief Isaac Muthini Ndei said those who wish to benefit from the initiative must first be registered in a self-help group for easier distribution of the farm inputs. He is the programme coordinator.
Addressing farmers at Itithini village, Ndei said the initiative will go a long way in alleviating hunger in the area, which receives erratic rains.
“At the tail end of this programme, we intend to have spent at least Sh10 million and hopefully manage to pull our people from the problem of perpetual hunger and poverty which has stalked them for years,” he said.
On his part Muthetheni MCA Jeremiah Munguti called on area leaders not to politicise the project but support it for the benefit of the residents.
He said as a leader, he was fully behind the programme and would push for drilling of additional boreholes to boost irrigated farming.
“I fully support this programme and promise to push for the drilling of two bore holes within Muthetheni and Miu wards to help farmers in irrigating their farms. I, therefore, wish to urge those who have not yet joined any self-help group to do so to benefit from this project,” he said.
In March this year, Machakos county began a programme for campaigning for the uptake of modern farming techniques as one way of improving food production and addressing the effects of climate change.
Speaking in Muthetheni trading centre on March 3 during the launch of the Climate Smart Agriculture Project, Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua said the only way of creating wealth among the rural residents was by coming up with mechanisms that can boost farming activities by investing in modern technology.
He said the objective of launching the project was to empower farmers through self-help groups and pushing for innovation, technology as well as an improvement in management practices for better agricultural output.
Mutua said the county government had by then spent a total of Sh45 million in the first phase of the programme on help self-help groups involved in agriculture startups enterprises.
“We have so far invested Sh45 million in this inaugural phase of this program that will see self-help groups from Muthetheni, Katangi, Mwala, Kola, Masii and Ikombe receive grants for their startup agricultural enterprises. The success of this phase will determine its implementation across the other wards in the county,”he said.
To date, the county government has managed to supply over 680 tonnes of free seeds to at least 640,000 farmers.
Kenya is vulnerable to climate change with current projections suggesting that her temperatures will rise by 2.5ºC between the year 2000 and 2050, while rainfall will become more intense and less predictable.
In April last year, Food and Agricultural Organization country leader in charge of Inclusive Value Chains Tito Arunga called upon the national and county governments to encourage farmers to embrace smart farming to cushion the country against the ravages of climate change. He was attending a trade fair in Machakos town. He was attending a trade fair in Machakos.
He said Kenya still remains a food insecure country and as such every effort should be put in place to mitigate against undesirable effects emanating from climate change.
Scientists caution that global temperatures will continue to rise for decades to come, largely due to greenhouse gases thanks to accelerated human activities.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which includes more than 1,300 scientists from the US and other countries, forecasts a temperature rise of 2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century.
This is according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration lab website produced by the Earth Science Communication team.
These horrifying realities will to drastically affect rain patterns, disrupt weather patterns and lead to dwindling yields as more and more regions that were erstwhile bread baskets slowly turn into baking ovens.
Edited by EKibii