Drought is a perennial problem in the dry counties of Machakos, Kitui, Makueni and other areas of Eastern Kenya.
However, residents still grow crops and ensure they remain productive. And in their efforts to remain food sufficient, the folks take advantage of the short, wet seasons and practice irrigation.
However, tough weather, unpredictable market, poor timing, which sometimes leads to glut, and the rugged terrains make their post-harvest losses higher compared to other regions in the country.
In Kithimani, Machakos county, a group of farmers irrigate their farms with water from a furrow dug by prisoners during the colonial times, while others have sunk boreholes to aid their farming.
To cut down on post-harvest losses, Stephan and Rachel Bleyer, a German-based couple, is installing a solar-powered cooling chamber.
“Unlike the common story that that this region is unproductive, there is a huge amount of produce coming from here especially fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices,” Stephan said during the handing over of Sh3.5 million solar-powered Cellux cooling chamber to Joseph Muuo Farm in Kithimani.
Stephan said this will save the 40 per cent of their produce that was going bad.
“Cellux manufacturer, Suncooling and Kramer, donated 90 per cent of the cooling chamber after they heard about the farmer’s plight, while Mzee Muuo offered a section of his farm to install it,” he said.
Muuo also paid Sh350,000 for the machine, which is 10 per cent of the total cost.
Stephan said they chose a machine that operates off-grid since there is no power supply in the area.
He added besides offering a place for farmers to safely store their produce, the cooling chamber will allow the community to aggregate and access common markets, thereby avoiding exploitation by brokers.
Rachel said such investments will help ensure food security in the counties and the country in general, while at the same time eradicating poverty.
“Horticultural produce spoils very fast after absorbing heat during harvest. But with a cooling facility, the vegetables, herbs and spices can be allowed time to cool-off and reduce post-harvest losses,” she said.
Some locals who gathered at Muuo’s home during the handing over event said they were on verge of abandoning horticulture due to huge losses.
Zachariah Mwaka said the installation of the cooling facility was timely. He grows bananas, French beans, eggplant, tomatoes and capsicum for export.
He urged the national and county government to install such facilities in other high horticultural producing semi-arid areas to cushion farmers from losses.
Mwaka cited Mwala, Ithanga, Kangundo and Masinga areas where farmers were suffering the same predicaments as those in Kithimani.
“We appreciate this couple for gifting us with this facility but it has a capacity of holding slightly more than 40 tonnes of produce and cannot serve all the affected farmers in Kithimani alone, leave alone the other regions,” he said.
Muuo said farmers in his locality were welcome to use the cooler on his farm and urged others to volunteer grounds for such installations in case a donor came by.
Edited by EKibii
