A group of women from the Olobelibel village in the Kajiado Central subcounty has embraced farming as an economic activity.
The women, who are mostly pastoralists, embraced agriculture as an alternative source of income, after losing most of their livestock to the devastating drought recently witnessed in the area.
Through the support of Enka Kenya Sidai and People for People Africa, a non-governmental organisation, the women's group members started farming crops like spinach, onions, tomatoes, beans and kale.
The NGO on Friday donated water tanks to the women to harvest rainwater for drip irrigation on their farms.
Jane Senkari, a resident of Olobelibel revealed that she is now able to feed her family with fresh vegetables from the farm.
Senkari said the drought witnessed last year wiped out all her livestock and she often had to rely on relief food to feed her family.
She added that they were concentrating on growing indigenous and fast-maturing crops due to the poor rainfall patterns experienced in the area.
“My family lost over 50 cows and 20 goats to the drought last year. We have decided to embrace agriculture so that we can be able to feed our families during all seasons. Through rainwater harvesting, we are able to grow various crops,” she said.
According to Eve Merin, the founder of Enka Kenya Sidai, there is a need to empower more rural women among the pastoralist communities to embrace farming activities so as to feed their families and become food secure.
Speaking at the Olobelibel Community demonstration farm, Merin emphasized the need to build resilience among local communities to mitigate the impact of climate change.
“We must empower and encourage women to embrace alternative sources of income such as smart agriculture so as to mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure food security,” she said.
Merin added that her organisation had embarked on creating climate-smart villages by introducing climate-smart initiatives into households such as solar electricity and clean cooking stoves.
She noted that over 100 families from Olobelibel village had received solar lighting systems for use in their homes and several women were trained on how to make energy-saving stoves.
