- The community groups will also be trained on climate-smart agriculture and provided with material support along the value chains of fish, cashew nuts, dairy, cotton, and indigenous chicken for increased productivity
- Its key objective is to increase agricultural productivity and enhance resilience or coping mechanisms to climate change risks in the targeted smallholder farming and pastoral communities in Kenya
The Lamu county projects steering committee has approved Sh152 million to help communities start micro-businesses for sustainable livelihoods.
The committee approved the Kenya Climate-Smart Agriculture Project's annual work plan and budget for the fiscal year 2022-2023.
The plan will include a review of the micro-project proposals appraisal report.
Also given the nod was the criteria for awarding grants to successful common interest groups, particularly the vulnerable and marginalised groups ahead of window I funding.
At least 176 community groups will benefit from the allocation that seeks to promote agriculture, livestock farming, and fishing sectors.
The community groups will also be trained on climate-smart agriculture and provided with material support along the value chains of fish, cashew nuts, dairy, cotton, and indigenous chicken for increased productivity.
In the allocation, the committee granted 11 producer cooperatives in Lamu Sh6.5 million in inclusion funds.
Each micro project's enterprise value ranges from Sh 350,000 to Sh 500,000, while common interest organisations will be financed to a tune of between Sh 700,000 to Sh 1 million.
The inclusion grants will encourage farmers in the county to join cooperatives and pool their farm produce together to maximise economies of scale and marketing.
Three cooperatives in Kiunga, two each in Faza, Hindi, and Mkunumbi, and one each in Bahari and Witu wards will benefit from the grants.
Ahmed Omar, a fisherman, said the funding is on time as it will help boost the fishing sector which is a key income earner for Lamu and subsequently improve livelihoods.
“We appreciate the funding. We’re looking forward to increased productivity in fishing, agriculture, and all the other sectors of the economy here,” said Omar.
Ali Gedi, a pastoralist in Pangani, said he was looking forward to KCSAP to generally increase productivity and build resilience to climate change risks in smallholder farming and pastoral communities.
This he said can be done by scaling up climate-smart agricultural practices, strengthening research and seed systems among other issues.
KCSAP is a Kenyan government project jointly supported by the World Bank.
Its key objective is to increase agricultural productivity and enhance resilience or coping mechanisms to climate change risks in the targeted smallholder farming and pastoral communities in Kenya.
In the event of an eligible crisis or emergency, KCSAP is mandated to provide an immediate and effective response.
Since its inception five years ago, the initiative has already spent Sh 49.6 million to aid around 77 community groups in Lamu.
They include 11 groups in Witu, 17 in Mkunumbi, 14 in Bahari, 8 in Hindi, 21 in Faza, and 6 in Kiunga.
(Edited by Francis Wadegu)