Withered crops and malnourished livestock paint the picture of how adverse climate change can be as you walk around several villages in Lower Nyakach, Kisumu County.
The area receives little rainfall that cannot support productive agricultural activities.
Residents largely depend on rainwater which is not sustainable, as the climatic pattern is not predictable.
For over the years, residents have majorly depended on agricultural produce from other regions.
However, a project funded jointly by the Government of Kenya, the World Bank and the County Government of Kisumu at a sum of Ksh 650 million is changing the narrative with many farmers in the region.
Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project (KCSAP) is being implemented in 24 counties and has reached 255 farmer groups since its inception.
The project that started back in 2017 covers three sub-counties which include Nyakach, Nyando and Kisumu East.
Kasae Model Farmers Group in Nyakach is one of the groups that are now earning decent livelihoods, thanks to the climate-smart agriculture project.
Started in 2014 with 1o women, the group aimed to fight poverty through poultry farming.
This however was hindered by the adverse climatic conditions within the Sub-County.
Currently, the group now boasts as one of the poultry suppliers within Kisumu County earning them close to Ksh. 500,000 per month. The membership has since risen to 15.
Damaris Awino, the group’s chairperson, attributes this to the input by KCSAP in ensuring that they practice climate-smart agriculture.
She says that the project gave them 458 improved kienyeji local chicken breeds which has so far changed their lives.
“From the chicken we got from KCSAP, we now have over 2000 chickens. We keep improved Kienyeji which is resistant to this harsh climate. Before the project, we were incurring losses since the breeds we had could not survive here,” said Awino.
Awino says that through their group, they have purchased hatching machines and they have the capacity of hatching 200 chicks per day.
The group sells the chicks at various stages and the money from the sales is shared among the 15 members with a fraction saved.
“We sell a day-old chick at sh.100, a month-old at sh. 300, two months old at sh. 500 and from four months old we sell at sh. 400 per kilogramme,’’ says Janet Akinyi, a group member.
Besides poultry farming, the group has incorporated the growing of indigenous leafy vegetables. The vegetables supplement the 10% nutrition adding value as one of the objectives under KCSAP.
The vegetable is consumed by members and the larger fraction is sold in the local markets. They earn up to Ksh. 20,000 from vegetable sales in a month.
According to Kisumu County Agricultural Statistics officer at KCSAP Kevin Kanywira, 70% of the support is used in purchasing farm inputs while 20% of the support is channelled towards alternative livelihood activities.
“I am glad to report that most of our beneficiaries are keen on not only earning a living through selling the end product but also improving the nutritional standards at family set-up,” says Kanywira.
According to him, the farm inputs depends on the value chains. Those in poultry farming are given chicks, incubators and feeds.
“This we are doing to ensure the farmers realize maximum production. We have so far distributed over 10 cassava chipping machines to groups involved in cassava production. We have also given out sorghum seeds, fertilizer and grain storage facilities,’’ says Kanywira.
The project officials conduct two monthly visits to the farmers to evaluate how the inputs are used and address challenges that may arise.
In as much as the farmers are reaping from their sweat, the disease burden is still a challenge facing them.
The farmers said that the outbreak of diseases is a threat to their poultry farming.
The cost of feeds is also eating into their earnings and this they say varies based on their stock.
“Besides diseases and cost of feeds, we lack extension services. Extension officers have resorted to staying in offices as opposed to going to farmers and assisting with expertise knowledge,” says Akinyi.
As the Nyakach farmers are improving their lives through climate-smart farming, the same is replicated in Kolwa East Village of Kisumu East Sub County.
The area is not only dry but has both sandy and black cotton soil. This makes agricultural activities, especially farming difficult.
Just like Lower Nyakach, the climatic change has rendered chunks of land in Kisumu East unproductive and most people have resorted to importing the produce.
Cassava Pesa Group has however changed the narrative, thanks to the KCSAP project.
The group’s chairman Thomas Mwalo says that he started cassava farming solely in 1997, however, the yield wasn’t that pleasing due to the prevailing climatic conditions around his Kolwa East home.
“Drought destroyed all my cassava crops in 2004 and this affected my family who relied mainly on cassava as a subsistence crop.
I had no option but to buy it elsewhere in Migori County, kilometres away,” says Mwalo
Mwalo says that through their Cassava Pesa Group, they are now growing cassava on a large scale despite the harsh climatic conditions.
He says that through KCSAP, they got drought resistant cassava variety called KME-08-02 (Tajirika) that thrives in the area.
The project gave them farm input valued at sh.500,000. This included the cassava cuttings, fertilizer, cassava chopping machine and packaging materials.
“The cassava variety we got is not only drought resistant but also matures fast,” he says.
The farmers through the group are now supplying fine chopped cassava to the markets within Kisumu County and beyond.
The farmers are now working on value-addition mechanisms to boost their earnings.
They intend to grind, package and brand their cassava flour, with supermarkets as their immediate target.
“We sell a 2kg tin at sh. 120. This is not enough; we are in the process of packaging the flour for wider market. We also keep dairy goats as supplement,” Says Pamela Anyango, a member of Cassava Pesa Group.
According to Anyango, the group takes home close to Ksh. 700,000 per harvest. A fraction of the money is used to lease lands for expansion of cassava plantation.
Their farming has been made possible irrigating the farms in the early stages of cassava crops; they are then left to grow under maintenance.
The cassava is not only sold in the local markets, the surrounding schools also purchase them to boost nutritional standards among students and pupils.
Jesse Anjichi, a tutor at Ahero Vocational Training Institute is a regular customer at Cassava Pesa Group’s farm. He purchases 10 bags of cassava per month from the group.
‘’Our institution has resolved to mix maize and chopped cassava to make flour. We use cassava because of its nutritious value. Our students need carbohydrate to remain active,’’ says Anjichi.
Cassava farming is however still facing challenges, which include laxity among farmers to adopt to growing it, diseases and rodents that eat the tubers while in farms.
Kisumu County’s Department of Agriculture has assured their full support of the project to make the county one of the Kenya’s food basket.
Climate smart farming is the way to go as the globe is facing challenges resulting from climate change.
Through KCSAP, we are helping in improving the productivity of the less productive areas within Kisumu County. This has resulted into pumper harvest and now our people have food in their stores.
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