New seeds help farmers grow more food

01 November 2012

It is raining less and less often around Kitui in eastern Kenya. Farmers are finding it ever more difficult to grow enough crops and food for their families and communities due to an increasing lack of rainfall.

At Farm Africa we’re working with selected farmers’ groups to improve the quality and supply of seeds that produce drought-tolerant crops able to withstand the increasingly arid conditions.

We plan to boost the production of drought-tolerant crops by 50% over the next year through improved seeds and by introducing new techniques that help farmers to conserve water in their soil.

Champion farmers

To ensure we achieve this ambitious target, we have identified a ‘champion’ farmer who is already an expert in the new seeds and water conservation techniques and who will train groups of farmers in Kitui.

We have also found two farmers’ groups that have received initial training on water and soil conservation techniques. We are making good progress and have organised training given by staff from Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture in how to use the new seeds. The farmers now know all about the four carefully selected drought-tolerant crops: sorghum, green grams, cowpeas and pigeon peas.

So that training for the farmers’ groups was as practical and effective as ever, we recently organised a field trip for the groups. They visited the fields of a farmer who has already planted drought-tolerant crops and who is putting in place water conservation measures like rooftop and road water collection.

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More about our work in Kenya