While drought has stricken most parts of the country, farmers in arid and semi-arid parts of Meru county are reaping big from increased crop yields.
They are in South Imenti, Igembe Central and Imenti Central subcounties.
Ten groups from these subcounties were selected by the Japan International Cooperation Agency for a pilot project on simple farming methods that give high returns.
Average net income per farmer has increased considerably with some farmers doubling their income. Meru is one of 18 counties chosen to implement the programme. It's known as Shep-Plus (Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion).
Simon Wambua, the chairman of Kathithi Kiruyo group and a beneficiary of the project, shared their success story with the Star during a farmers field day.
It was attended by Meru Agriculture chief officer Dionisia M'eruaki, JICA Kenya chief representative Katsutoshi Komori and JICA chief adviser Nobuhide Hayashi.
Patrick Kenya, a member of the two-year-old group with 21 active members, said they had not been able to take their children to school and were faced with poverty.
But since JICA came to their rescue, they sell watermelons, pawpaws, tomatoes and kale. They also own goats and cows and have transformed their lives, Kenya said.
“We used to farm without a market, they came and taught us how to search and engage a ready market, keep records, use certified seeds correctly and do timely chemical spraying, among others things. We now rake in thousands in earnings,” he said at the group’s display tent at Murera Gate near Meru National Park, Igembe Central.
Farmer Peres Oluande said, "We did a market survey and got the peak demand for the market period. Our lives have improved through the returns from the sale of vegetables."
The event brought together smallholder farmers and extension officers from Kilifi, Makueni, Kitui, Kiambu and Meru counties.
Komori said the programme has been successfully implemented in Kenya and other African countries and will continue until 2020.
National project coordinator Francisca Malenge said an extension service has been operating in Meru since 2010 and skills have greatly improved attitudes and livelihoods.
M'eruaki told extension officers to be more aggressive in training.
She also urged farmers to form groups and take advantage of the training. M'eruaki emphasised the need to practise both mixed farming and mixed cropping for maximal outputs.
The approach was developed through technical cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture, JICA and the Agriculture Food Authority.
(Edited by R.Wamochie)
