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Agriculture

Makueni Coffee Farmers To Receive Sh 4.7 Million Worth of Cherry Fund to Enhance Coffee Production

At least 1000 coffee farmers from Kikima Farmers Cooperative Society are beneficiaries of Sh.4.7 Million worth of cherry Fund to boost coffee production and productivity.
This is one of the areas of collaboration between the county government of Makueni and the New Kenya Planters Co-operative Union(New KPCU) to revamp the coffee sector in Makueni.
During the official launch of the Cherry Fund at Mulima Coffee factory on Thursday, Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr announced that his administration will make plans to provide fertilizer and other farm inputs for improved coffee production.
Farmers were sensitized on best agriculture practices for maximum coffee profitability, ahead of a benchmark tour to Mukarimu Farm in Meru, the best coffee farmer in Kenya.

Governor Mutula Unveils the Farmer Profiling Exercise in Makueni

Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr together with his Deputy Lucy Mulili on Wednesday officially launched the Agricultural Value Chain profiling exercise, Makueni chapter at ATC- Kwakathoka.

The Agricultural Value Chain profiling is an exercise that is being spearheaded by the National Government in collaboration with the County Governments through the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP) and is seeking to undertake a comprehensive registration of all farmers across the country.

The exercise also seeks to map and register all value chain actors that support farmers such as agro-inputs dealers, aggregators, processors, extension service providers, marketing centers and transporters, among others. This will help the government link farmers to key service providers through digitalized platforms such as e-extension and other e-services.

Makueni has already recruited 504 agri prenures and will embark on the data collection on Friday, and will take 25 days.

Governor Mutula urged the agri preneurs to be keen so as to capture every farmer so that they don’t miss out on important government services.

On her part, Mulili said that the exercise is important for the county government and that the data will be helpful in informed decision making and planning.

Agriculture Executive Joyce Mutua asked the young people to take advantage of the profiling activity and borrow some of the best agriculture practices which they can implement to better their lives.

The launch was also graced by Devolution and Transport Executives Japheth Mang’oka and Eng. Sebastian Kyoni respectively, Muvau-Kikumini Member of County Assembly Elizabeth Mutinda, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperative Development Chief Officer Dr. Victoria Kyalo and NAVCDP County Coordinator Paul Musyimi.

KCDMS, Makueni Drum for Conservative Agriculture

At least 4,000 makueni farmers will benefit from free deep tillage services, ahead of the short rains in a bid to increase agricultural productivity and profitability.
 
USAID funded Feed the Future Kenya Crops and Dairy Market Systems Activity (KCDMS) in conjunction with the county government of Makueni will engage 30 Tractor service providers to offer free deep tillage services among farmers.
Deep tillage popularly known as conservative agriculture is a climate adoption methodology where farmers are encouraged to use chisel plough/sub soiler instead of the convectional disc plough.
 
This offer will run for one month before the short rains commence in October and it acts as an incentive to farmers to adopt these practices by providing them with cost-effective solutions that can significantly improve soil health and crop yield.
 
Makueni County Agriculture and Irrigation Chief Officer Daniel Ndolo and KCDMS Senior Technical Advisor  Brenda Aluda on Monday flagged off a 2-day deep tillage campaign to sensitize farmers on conservative agriculture.
Aluda noted that over the last seasons farmers in the region have been reaping low farm produce as a result of drought that had hit the area due to climate change. 
 
“The reason why we are focusing today on soil and water conservation measures is because Makueni, Kitui and Taita Taveta have experienced drought due to climate change in the past two seasons and with insufficient water farmers have been reaping little farm produce,” said Aluda.
 
Ndolo on his part called on farmers to take advantage of the free deep tillage services and adopt conservative Agriculture for increased yield and food security at the household level.

Kikome Irrigation Scheme to Put 50 Acres under Irrigation in Kitise

Kikome Irrigation scheme in Kitise-Kithuki Ward is 70% complete, Agriculture and Irrigation Chief Officer Daniel Ndolo has said.
 
Ndolo toured the scheme on Thursday to check on the status of the project and fast-track its completion.
Kikome is one of the 11 micro-irrigation schemes being implemented through the Small-Scale Irrigation and Value Addition Project (SIVAP) in partnership with the county government of Makueni.
 
Once complete, the scheme will benefit 100 households and irrigate 50 acres with different high-value crops like capsicum, spinach, kale, green maize and fruit trees.
The county government through the Department of Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperative Development is also establishing 2 large irrigation schemes, that is, Utangwa and Kyeemwea in Mbooni and Kaiti Sub-Counties respectively.
 
The micro and large irrigation schemes will irrigate 600 acres to help enhance food security in Makueni.

Makueni, ADS-Kenya Ink a Deal to Enhance Employability for Women and Youth in Agriculture

At least 600 youth and women from Makueni will benefit from Green Business Project (GBP), courtesy of a 1-year deal signed on Wednesday by Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr and  Anglican Development Services Kenya (Ads Kenya) Programs Manager Charles Macharia.
The purpose of the GBP is to create economic opportunities and enhance employability for Youth and Women of productive age through green skills and capacity development along the target value chains namely horticulture, dairy and poultry.
The youth beneficiaries will be trained at ATC-Kwakathoka for a period of 3 months and placed on attachment thereafter for 3 months at the same center. The women-organized groups will participate in field-based training. This will be preceded by a competitive recruitment process.
After successful training and assessment, successful beneficiaries will partially be supported with start-up capital.
The signing of the partnership was witnessed by Agriculture Executive Mrs Joyce Mutua and ADS-Kenya Programs Officer Sophia Gakii.

A New Dawn for Coffee Farmers in Makueni

New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (New KPCU) is seeking to collaborate with Makueni county government to upscale the coffee sector in the county.
Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr on Monday hosted a high powered delegation from New KPCU to discuss areas of partnership to revamp the sector. The areas include;
• Sensitization and enrolment of coffee farmers to the cherry fund. Makueni coffee farmers are eligible for up to Sh 11 Million worth of cherry fund. The application by farmers for the fund will commence early next month.
• Establishment of a coffee nursery and a demonstration farm,
• Capacity build farmers on best farm practises to increase coffee yield per acre,
• Capacity build coffee Cooperatives Societies on governance and leadership to improve resource management, and
• Linkage to processing, value addition and markets.

Governor Mutula announces digital registration of farmers for better service delivery

H.E Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr has announced that the County Government is targeting to register over 166,000 farming households across the 30 wards.
The exercise is set to be carried out by Local Ward Based enumerators bound to be recruited.
The County has already placed an advert for 503 positions where youth have been encouraged to apply for the opportunities with application forms available at the County Website with 24th August 2023 set as deadline.
Mutula spoke this during the burial of Philip Nzembi, a former teacher and a Councillor at Mutwii Village,Kikima, in Mbooni Sub – County.

Faith Mumo Cuts Niche in Agripreneurship

The sky is not the limit for Faith Mumo, a young vibrant agripreneur after she hosted a ground breaking ceremony to pave the way for the construction of ‘BEFA FEEDS’ animal feed processing factory to boost her daily processing capacity.
 
Faith is currently processing 10 Metric Tons of assorted feeds monthly at a rented small facility and is targeting to process 50 Metric Tons hence the need for a bigger premise.
 
Her agribusiness journey began while serving as an intern at the Makueni County Department of Agriculture, Irrigation, livestock and Fisheries Development, based at the ATC- Kwakathoka, where she received mentorship.
 
While at ATC, Faith also learned about fingerlings production and mango value addition which she is also practicing at the family Iviani farm in Muvau- Kikumini ward.
She has employed 40 other young people and she is an inspiration to the young generation that agribusiness is a lucrative venture.
 
The ground breaking ceremony was graced by Agriculture Executive Joyce Mutua, Makueni County Assembly Speaker Douglas Mbilu and other senior county officials on Wednesday at kwakathoka shopping center.

Makueni Dairy and Apiculture Farmers to Receive Support from the World Bank

Makueni farmers have prioritized the dairy and apiculture(bee-keeping) value chains to receive financial support for market access and value addition under the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP)-a new World Bank-funded project.
In the just concluded 2-day public participation process to select two additional value chains to be considered for funding by the World Bank, dairy and apiculture value chains were adopted by the farmers.
 
NAVCDP is a scale-up of NARIGP, and its overall goal is to increase market participation and enhance value addition for smallholder farmers who are either in transition or have transitioned from subsistence to commercial farming.
 
According to the majority of the farmers, in a list of seven value chains, dairy and apiculture have the highest growth potential in both domestic and export markets. The value chains also have the highest potential for expansion in productivity in the county.
 
Other criteria for value chain selection included the potential for inclusivity of the vulnerable groups and nutrition sensitivity.
 
The countywide public participation exercise was spearheaded by the County Department of Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock, Fisheries, and Cooperative Development.

Local Farmers Reaping Big through the Adoption of New Technologies in Farming

Over 70% of Makueni farmers supported through the National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth Project (NARIGP) have adopted at least one Technology Innovation and Management Practices (TIMPs) in agricultural production, County Livestock and Cooperative Development Director David Musyoki has revealed.
While interacting with the project County Technical Advisory Committee (CTAC) members, during their 3-day field visits and backstopping exercise, various farmers shared their success  stories of improved livelihoods after adopting best agriculture practices.
 
According to Musyoki, who also chairs CTAC, the committee is responsible for technical advice and quality assurance at the county level.
Many farmers say are now able to afford school fees for their children as well as feed their families during these hard economic  times. These, they attributed to new technologies that have increased production and profitability in agriculture.
 
Some of the TIMPs adopted by farmers are simple chicken feeds formulation and improved feeding, serial hatching, conservation agriculture and mechanization.
 
Others include Integrated Pest Management, climate-smart agronomics practices, flock health management , harvest and post–harvest management.
 
The adoption of new technologies by farmers is expected to shoot up, with the inception of Saccos in the project to assist them access affordable financial resources.