Agriculture

Makueni Deputy Governor H.E Lucy Mulili has praised a group of women from Kiatine, Wote/Nziu ward, Makueni Sub-County for taking the challenge in silkworm farming which is taking shape in the County.

The Deputy Governor spoke on Saturday when she toured Tosheka Textiles’ Kiatine silkworm cages.

Lucy Lau Bigham, the entrepreneur behind Tosheka Textiles called on the Makueni government to support extension and training services for silkworm farming.

The venture, according to Lau is a sustainable community-empowering textile initiative that bridges the economic gap for women.

Lau observed that Eri silkworms attract a competitive sale price of about Sh. 200 per kilogram.The worms majorly feed on caster beans with farmers at the outskirts of Wote town embracing farming of castor plants in plenty.

Through several degumming processes, silk produces fibre which through spinning is converted into a yarn hence making of clothes.

Governor Kivutha Kibwana and his deputy Adelina Mwau on Thursday flagged off 30MT of maize seed worth Kshs. 7.5M for distribution to 15,000 farmers across the county a head of the October-December short rains.

The consignment, which is support from Bayer East Africa, is part of the county government’s efforts working with its partners to enhance food security initiatives.

The initiatives target to support 47,382 farm families, 75 youth groups and 118 other groups with seeds, seedlings and equipment to improve food and nutrition security in the county. The target beneficiaries are spread across all the thirty wards in Makueni County in line with the county government’s philosophy of “O kila nyumba kalila.”

The overall goal of the initiatives, governor Kibwana said, is to cushion the farmer against the effects of covid-19 pandemic by ensuring availability of quality seed and seedlings for enhanced productivity and profitability at farm level. This is to be achieved through a collaborative effort between the government and stakeholders as follows:

1. Bayer E.A, supporting with 30,000 Kgs of maize seed (worth KShs 7.5M), targeting 15,000 (500 per ward) beneficiaries

2. Kenya Cereal Enhancement Programme – Climate Resilient Agricultural Livelihood (KCEP-CRAL), a government programme, targeting to reach out to 5,297 beneficiaries with an assortment of maize/beans and sorghum/green grams seeds as well as other farm inputs (ripping service, hermetic bags, tarpaulin, fertilizers). The programme will also support 20 staff with motorbikes to enhance their mobility when offering extension services.

3. Small-scale Irrigation and Value Addition Project (SIVAP) targeting 540 beneficiaries with beans, cow peas, green grams, dolichos lab, millets, and sorghum seeds for demonstrations and bulking in the project areas (Utangwa, Kyemwee Irrigation schemes and Muoni/Kikuu Catchment – Makindu, Nguu/Masumba, Emali/Mulala, Mbitini and Kasikeu wards).

4. The National Irrigation Board (NIB) is supporting the initiative with 7,000 avocado seedlings which will be distributed to Kilungu, Mbitini, Ukia, Mbooni, Kithungo/Kitundu, and Tulimani wards. (10 seedlings per farmer).

5. The Government of Makueni County (GMC) will support the initiative with 10,000 avocado seedlings and 1,500 macadamia seedlings under ward projects in Mukaa and Ilima wards. (10 seedlings per farmer).

6. The Agriculture and Food Authority’s Nuts & Oil Crops will support the initiative with 5,000 cashew nut seedlings which will be distributed to 500 beneficiaries across the county at 10 seedlings per farmer.

7. The Makueni Youth Agribusiness Empowerment Project (MYAEP) will support 60 youth groups as follows;
a. 10 groups with beehives, honey harvesting kits, honey extracting machines,
b. 10 groups with chicken,
c. 20 groups with pumps, drip irrigation kits, vegetable seeds and farm inputs (fertilizers and agrochemicals).
d. 20 groups for capacity building (skills development)
e. The project has also supported 8 staff with motorbikes to enhance their mobility when offering extension services.

Mango actors in the country have launched a rigorous campaign towards establishment of Fruit Fly Free Zones (FFFZ) in Makueni County.

The campaign, launched at Kwakathoka Wednesday, provides an opportunity for the various actors in the mango value chain to interact and kick off activities geared towards reduction of mango losses due to fruit fly infestation in Makueni County and in Kenya at large.

The campaign also aims at sensitizing and creating awareness on fruit fly control and to create pest free areas. The outcomes of this campaign is expected to stimulate mango export and increase incomes for mango farmers and other value chain actors.

The campaign is driven by the county government, USAID, Feed the Future, Rockefeller foundation, and the Kenyan national government through various agro agencies.

The partners to this campaign have unveiled a raft of measures which will ensure a successful campaign, which include:

Working with five Integrated Pest Management technology providers and two mango cooperatives to promote adoption of IPM best practices;

The campaign will also involve training of 10,000 farmers, training 100 agro dealers and setting up of a distribution system, establishment of 120 demonstration orchards as well as holding 80 field days across the county.

Makueni County on Wednesday played host to the 2019 World Food Day national celebrations usually marked annually on 16^th October.

The objective of the celebration is promoting worldwide awareness and actions for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure food security and nutritious diet for all.

The event staged at Kwakathoka was graced by among others; Principal Secretary for Crop Development and Agricultural Research Hamadi Boga, governor Kivutha Kibwana, and top national officials of FAO and WFP.

Kibwana outlined notable milestones achieved by his administration in a quest to improve food security and enhanced incomes:

1. The identification and promotion of four key agricultural value chains; fruit, dairy, indigenous chicken and green grams. The value chains have substantially been streamlined from production to value addition including processing through development of Makueni fruit processing plant which is still under development to ensure enhanced return on investment; support to development of dairy aggregation across the county and processing plants at Kikima and Kathonzweni; the on-going development of a poultry slaughter house at Kitise and a grain processing plant at Makindu. This will ensure better quality and safer foods for the consumers while increasing the incomes to farmers.
2. Improved accessibility and affordability of agricultural inputs through linkages such as DigiFarm and KCEP-CRAL in collaboration with Safaricom and IFAD respectively, and the establishment by the county government of non-interest fund (Tetheka Fund) to enhance credit for agriculture and trade.
3. Water harvesting programme dubbed “Kutwiikania kiw’u “and subsequent food security programme “Operation Mwolyo Out (OMO)- One acre rule”. The strategy entails construction of farm ponds at farm level for the production of quality and nutritious food for the households. The strategy promotes the establishment of dairy, poultry, nutritional garden among others within one acre of land.
4. Enhanced agribusiness and youth involved in agriculture, a programme co-funded by world food programme and my Government.
5. Establishment of crop and livestock pest and disease surveillance and their control programme.
6. Promotion of climate smart agriculture in collaboration with FAO, to improve productivity and profitability and therefore enhance resilience among vulnerable communities. Some equipment used in the programme will be presented to the County in this event.
7. Construction of fresh produce markets, stock yards, and establishment of market linkages to enhance returns to the farmers.
8. The development of an Agricultural Training Centre (ATC-Kwakathoka). This institution hosts demonstrations in appropriate agricultural technologies as well as offering Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education Training (ATVET) services targeting our youth and other agricultural producers.
9. The establishment of County climate change policy and board which strives to reverse environmental degradation and ensure protection of water catchments areas.

In a bid to ensure quality agricultural products for both domestic and export markets, Makueni has shifted gears to building food safety systems.

According to governor Kivutha Kibwana, the aim of this campaign is to promote public health, and protecting the consumers against health hazards posed by unsafe agricultural products.

To achieve this feat, Makueni has partnered with Micro Enterprise Support Programme Trust (MESPT), and secured funding from the European Union through DANIDA to implement the campaign dubbed AgriFI Food Safety Programme.

At a meeting in Nairobi on Thursday between the Governor and officials from MESPT and the Royal Danish Embassy, it was agreed the programme will target three major value chains namely; Aquaculture, Dairy and horticulture.

MESPT acting Chief Executive Officer Charles Nyawade said the programme will involve among others:

Supporting the County Government in testing, surveillance and enforcement of Sanitary and Phyto Sanitary (SPS) regulations at the county level. This includes setting up of testing labs and provision of testing and surveillance kits and equipment.

Development and dissemination of value chain-based extension curricula modules, integrating the compliance to Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) regulations.

Drive the consumer sensitization on food safety.

MESPT will also support development of the Agricultural Training Centre at Kwa Kathoka as one of the country’s model Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education Training (ATVET) centre.

The centre will be key in offering a holistic capacity building of all agricultural value chain actors especially farmers and extension officers.

According to Nyawade, the centre has already received two million shillings for basic infrastructural installations, while the county government has already established training infrastructure such as an aquatic hatchery, a fish farm as well as irrigation farm.

Farmers from Makueni, Machakos and Kitui counties are set to benefit from an irrigation agribusiness program, an initiative geared towards enhancing food security through irrigated agriculture.

The church community based project, launched at Vyulya village in Machakos is a brainchild of ABC Archbishop in charge of East Africa Timothy Ndambuki and supported by TIMADA LTD and Church Capacity Building and Support Centre (CCCBSC).

The program was unveiled by Archbishop Ndambuki, Makueni County Governor Kivutha Kibwana and Machakos Deputy Governor Francis Maliti on Wednesday.

According to the Archbishop, a successful model, tried and proven in Vyulya shall be replicated in the South Eastern Kenya Economic Bloc (SEKEB) to create employment and promote agribusiness across Ukambani and beyond.

“We want this to move to the three counties and we are urging them to walk with us. This will help us improve food security as well as create employment to our youth and women,” said Ndambuki.

The program, to adopt the Israel Moshav model, will entail training of farmers by experts on agricultural skills and supplied with various farm equipment and inputs. The farmers will further form a cooperative society that will help them market their produce as well as link them to export opportunities.