Cereal Growers Association (CGA) has pledged to support maize and Irish potatoes farming in Bungoma County to boost production and increase food on the markets.
Bungoma County highly depends on maize crop for its food and livelihoods as the crop covers 95 percent of land under food crop production, especially in Tongaren, Kimilili, Mt. Elgon and Sirisia sub-counties.
Bungoma is one the four counties which together produce 45 percent of maize produced in Kenya, other counties are Narok, Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia.
Maize is the crop that determines not only the food security of the county and Kenyan nation by extension.
In an interview with the media during a farmers’ workshop at Mabanga Agricultural Training Center (ATC), Bungoma County agri- business coordinator Walter Mukabwa said that CGA is determined to train maize and Irish potato farming in 13 counties that engage in maize farming with an aim of improving maize production to ensure that Kenya is rich in food production.
“I have scheduled farmers training workshops in all counties that practice maize farming and teach them on new ways of maize farming, my organization is determined to improve the production in counties,” Mukabwa said.
Mukabwa confirmed that Cereal Growers Association has placed extension officers in all the nine constituencies in Bungoma who move around to educate farmers on maize production
“We seek to increase the number of extension officers on the ground so that education is enhanced, Mt.Elgon needs more officers because it’s a major production center of Irish potatoes,” he said.
He noted that the organization partners with syngenta, county governments and Yara international to boost agriculture in the country.
Albert Sirengo, a farmer from Naima farmer’s cooperative society in Tongaren Constituency lauded the move by the organization in supporting agriculture in Bungoma County.
Sirengo urged the county government to provide subsidy farm inputs to small scale farmers.
In his appeal, Sirengo asked the government to help construct roads in Mt. Elgon to help easy movement and transportation of Irish Potatoes from the region to other places.
“The main challenge facing Mt. Elgon farmers are impassable roads in the region as roads are in poor state,” he said.
