County sets aside Sh40m for climate smart agriculture

Kitui government has invested Sh40 million in climate smart agriculture and crop value addition.

Agriculture executive Stephen Kimwele said some of the crops identified for the project include, sorghum, green grams and cow peas.

"We are committed to walking with our farmers from production, pest management, post-harvest and later link them to markets for maximum benefit,” he said.

Kimwele said collaboration and training of farmers will alleviate food insecurity.

The CEC has been on a two week tour of farms to assess the performance of drought tolerant crops in Kitui town.

From the tour, he said farmers who planted drought tolerant crops will have a good harvest.

He said the crops are the solution to Kitui's food insecurity.

Kimwele urged farmers in Kitui to embrace climate-smart agriculture for improved yields.

He said drought-tolerant crops such as sorghum, millet, pigeon peas, cowpeas and green grams can withstand unpredictable rain patterns.

The county's collaboration with International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics saw farmers receive crop husbandry technical support and certified seeds.

Kimwele credited the good yields to the partnership with ICRISAT.

He urged farmers to also form cooperative societies to aggregate and sell their produce for maximum benefits.

"Aggregation is the way to go for agriculture in Kenya. Through aggregation, farmers will be able to find a common market for their produce and build a bargaining force,” Kimwele said. 

He said the cooperatives will also help the farmers get support from the county and other development agencies.

During his tour, the CEC visited Kamantho Farmers Cooperative Society in Kitui Rural subcounty, which has 630 members.

The county also partnered with Kenya Cereals Enhancement Project and built an aggregation store and offices for the community.

Lenah Nzambia, a member of the cooperative said they have already collected and sold 800 bags of green grams.