Project continues to benefit Kenyans threatened by increasing drought and rising food prices

Farm Africa’s Dryland Farming Project is situated in the Kitui and Mwingi districts of Kenya. The region is arid and vulnerable to drought. The recent failure of the long rain season has seriously exacerbated the effects of lack of rainfall. One particularly worrying effect of increasing drought has been the recent rise in local food prices which has left a majority of households unable to afford many basic food items.

This increasingly urgent backdrop has made the work of Farm Africa’s Dryland Farming Project in promoting access to water and enhanced food security all the more urgent. And despite the increasingly challenging operational background, the project has recently delivered impressive results.

Increasing crop yields to enhance food security

A key aim of the project is to boost food security in this arid and vulnerable region. The project aims to achieve this through the training of 1000 farmers in the use of Drought Resistant Crops (DTCs) so that both overall yields and crop diversity can be increased in foods such as millet, sorghum, pigeon peas, cowpeas and green grams. To increase yields, 42 “Champion Farmers” have recently been trained in key techniques including rain water harvesting, soil conservation and pest management. And to increase crop diversity (as a means of over-reliance on any one crop which may fail), Farm Africa project staff recently staged a farmers’ educational tour. Farmers based on the project visited the Meru Dryland Farming Project to develop knowledge and skills in conservation agriculture, nursery establishment, vegetable and poultry production.

Increased access to water

To mitigate against the effects of drought, access to water for both domestic and agricultural use has been boosted. In recent months two new boreholes have been drilled, making a total of 6 boreholes completed since the project started. These boreholes, together with seven new earth dams, mean that 33,000 people are now benefitting from new sources of fresh water. To ensure the long-term survival of these new water sources, water management committees have been established. The committees offer training in water conservation techniques and the monitoring of water use. In the past few months Farm Africa’s project has trained an additional 178 people in water usage and monitoring, ensuring that crucial knowledge is being widely shared within the community.