Cone gardening solves water scarcity problem

As drought persists around the country, Turkana has come up with an innovative solution to boost food security.

The county government in conjunction with NGO group PanAfricare have piloted the multi-storey cone garden.

PanAfricare, with funding from Bayer Fund through the Impact Programme, has installed home cone gardens to support 200 women.

Its nutrition officer Kassim Lubao said they are preparing land with the new farming technology to help Katilu and Turkwel residents produce household food.

“We aim to achieve increased household access, availability and consumption of diversified and nutrient-rich food,” he said.

“We are piloting the multi-storey cone kitchen gardens with 20 Community Care Groups (CCGs): 10 in Katilu ward and 10 in Turkwel ward.”

He said the innovativeness of the kitchen gardens has qualified them as part of the 21st-century climate-smart agriculture technologies. The programme is suitable for self-consumption agriculture all over the world.

The kitchen garden gets its name from its shape. It has rings of soil compacted together and held into place by a thick and strong plastic sheet. Each ring is smaller in diameter than the ring below it.

The cone garden looks like a steep hill with circular terraces. One can choose to plant different species, creating a collage that would both be a food source and aesthetically pleasing.

Lubao said the kitchen gardens are the easiest way households can ensure an inexpensive supply of fresh vegetables, herbs, spices and other plants.

He said the focus is not only to make food available but also to improve its nutritional quality.

“We have been supporting farmers to grow their crops for food security, but water has been a big challenge. That is why they are coming up with new technology to address the water menace,” he said.

He said through the Impact Programme, 200 women from Turkwel and Katilu wards are benefiting from the cone gardens established in their homesteads. The gardens come with storage tanks and irrigation pipes fitted onto them.

“The irrigation system mirrors that of drip irrigation, where water slowly drops onto the root of the plants. Their economical utilisation of water makes them suitable for water-stressed areas,” the nutrition officer said.

He said the cone gardens are highly productive compared to normal home gardens because there is a high concentration of nutrients and losses are minimal.

“Vegetables such as spinach, cowpeas, carrots and others can be grown at different layers of the cones. Once fenced, the gardens are easy to manage. Very minimal gardening time is required to make it work once it has been planted,” Lubao said.

Turkana South resident Esther Ajikon, a community health volunteer, said the kitchen gardens have given them an opportunity to plant vegetables to cushion them from hunger.

“We are a group of 20 women at Namakat benefitting from the cone kitchen garden. The cone garden has been of great value because we plant vegetables and tomatoes, which we consume and sell the surplus so we can get cash,” she said.

Ajikon said local vegetables have been of great value to under-five children, lactating mothers and pregnant women.

“With the drought ravaging households, the normal kitchen gardens have dried up due to lack of water. Others were marooned by heavy rains. But with conical gardens, we are still able to manage them and get food,” Ajikon said.

The Impact Programme targets to reduce the high rates of malnutrition in Turkana through interventions that significantly improve nutrition outcomes.

The programme targets pregnant, lactating women, under-five children and improving food security and resilience for the entire household.