There was a time, not so long ago, when Yatta evoked images of devastating droughts, dust, whirlwinds, famine, dependency on handouts, relief food and Kajiwe.
The new Yatta understands that poverty is a mindset. When primordial mindsets are changed, livelihoods are likely to take a progressive trajectory.
The change began at the individual level, then spread to the family, community, counties, country, and beyond. The change is possible if common good, and measurable results, define public policies.
Yatta families that were once water-stressed have learnt to conserve this precious resource for food security. They dug water pans, about two or three per homesteads, to harvest and store rainwater.
They have reduced dependency on rain-fed agriculture. They plant high-value crops such as sweet potatoes, pumpkins, arrowroots, watermelon, pawpaw, mangoes and sunflower.
Diversity has reduced risks and improved returns on investment. They have created jobs. Money is flowing into deserving pockets at different times of the year. These crops mature at different times of the year. Yatta farmers are masters of their own destinies.
Rural households that once relied on relief food and handouts are exporting surplus food. The bread on your table may probably have been made from sweat potatoes from Yatta Plateau of Machakos county.
Value addition is routine in the once-marginalised Yatta. Simple innovations have enhanced community resilience to climate change, and increased household incomes.
Kajiwe represented a mindset that needed to change. Kajiwe, an infamous witch doctor from Ukambani, personified dark forces that control gullible minds. Such minds pay homage to divisive influences and practices.
The Kajiwe mindset divides families and clans, fuels poverty and breaks relationships. Disparate relations engender poverty and social insecurity, lower self-esteem and fuel petty, jealousy-induced conflicts.
People create wealth when they work together for the common good. But such is impossible where poverty and lies rule. This infectious mindset ruled Yatta before an inspired bishop arrived to nurture psychological discipline.
The journey to plenty, for hitherto a land of scarcity, began with the mission statement: 'Operation Mwolyo Out'. Mwolyo is Kamba word for relief. Operation Relief Out, or Operation Dependency Out, has been transformative and is easy to replicate.
Through the initiative of an inspired man, Bishop Titus Masika, Yatta is a model for community transformation in the age of climate change. The transformation comes with progressive thinking, collegiality, food security, self-reliance, and money in meriting pockets.
Crops don't need rain – they need water. A farmer who depends on rain won't go far in the age of climate change. Rains that come too little too late cannot support sustainable agriculture.
Maize needs about 100 days or three months to mature in most parts of Homa Bay county, about four months in Kitale, and even longer in the wetter highlands. But those highlands are losing their cold.
Rainfall is erratic – comes too little too late. Or falls massively, and floods and destroys crops, especially in poorly drained terrains.
Now, more than 4 million people are starving in 21 counties across the country. Baringo is desperate for water and food. It has not rained in Kilifi for 27 months. Parts of Homa Bay, especially Midwest Karachuonyo, have had four consecutive seasons of massive crop failure.
A transformed Yatta, a once impoverished arid land, is the pioneering work of Bishop Masika, director of Christian Impact Mission. The plateau is a benchmarking destination for climate change adaptation and resilience. The initiative has humanised and spurred real rural development.
University lecturer and climate change adviser to the Homa Bay governor
