Farmers in Kirinyaga County are reaping big from irrigation projects initiated by the County Government.
The projects, aimed at increasing access to irrigation water supply have enabled thousands of households to undertake subsistence farming thus increasing agricultural productivity, reducing food insecurity and uplifting the living standards of many families in the rural areas.
Under an elaborate plan by Governor Anne Waiguru to increase the distribution network of both domestic and irrigation water to the county residents, more than 70 water projects have been completed while another 80 projects are ongoing.
The governor has been distributing water pipes and fittings as well as funding micro tunneling for various projects across the county.
She said that her administration is committed to supporting farmers to increase agricultural production in the light of resources scarcity and climate change.
One of the successful projects is Kiamuka Irrigation Water Project in Mutira Ward in Kirinyaga Central. The project that benefits 800 households has been transforming household through subsistence crop farming enabled by efficient water management even when there is no rainfall.
Even though the farms served by the project are generally fertile and have the potential of producing bumper harvests, farming was always a challenge owing to over dependence on rainfall. This would make farmers only cultivate during the rainy seasons thereby subjecting many families to food insecurity.
With the completion of the project, however, the story has changed and farmers can now irrigate their farms and get a bumper harvest throughout the year.
John Maina, a resident of Kariko village and one of the beneficiaries of this project narrated how they used to fetch water from the river using jerry cans, a tedious and a time wasting task that often deprived them of time to attend to other activities. But with the project, they only allocate a few minutes to water their crop and then go about their other duties.
“Before the project was initiated, we struggled to grow enough food for our families but now we can irrigate our farms and grow crops such as vegetables whereby we produce enough for our families and sell the surplus to the market thus creating employment for ourselves,” said Maina.
Peter Muthii, the Chairman of Kiamuka Irrigation Water project, said that availability of water has greatly benefitted farmers since they can now cultivate even during the dry seasons unlike before when they only relied on rainfall for farming.
He said that despite being a dry season, he was expecting to harvest about five crates of tomato from his small piece of land. With the proceeds from his farm, he is able to feed and educate his three children and create a job for himself.
“The County Government has been assisting us with water distribution pipes, micro tunneling as well as training on proper use and maintenance of irrigation systems. Many farms in this area are ever green since farmers don’t have to wait for the rains to grow their crop.” Said the Chairman.
His neighbor, Bernard Ngirigacha, is growing cabbage in his small farm where he expects to harvest not less than Ksh. 50,000 worth of cabbage, a thing he could not dream of before he got connected with the irrigation water.
Lucy Nyakio Karimi who is a young farmer from Kiriguini village is also reaping from Kiamuka water project. On her farm, she grows cabbage, kales, capsicum, spring onions which she uses to feed her family and sells the surplus to cater for other household requirements. She has also employed several people to tend to her farm thus creating employment opportunities.
Nyakio’s story is similar to that of Roselyn Muriithi, a retired government officer who is now a small scale farmer. With irrigation water, she no longer has to go to the market to buy vegetables since she gets them from her farm. She is intercropping coffee, assorted vegetables as well as livestock farming. Most of the farmers use sprinkle irrigation methods while a few of them have installed drip irrigation systems.
The County Executive Committee Member for Water and Irrigation, James Kinyua Mutugi, said that Kiamuka is one of the impacts of a well-coordinated plan by Governor Waiguru to ensure that Kirinyaga people benefitted from the county government through such strategic partnerships.
“Such projects provide an opportunity for job creation through farming given that is the mainstay of our county. The County Government is expanding the water distribution network to reach more households with about 100,000 families targeted for irrigation water projects across the county. We aim at ensuring that our people are engaged economically and that their standards of living is uplifted,” said the CEC.
