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Agriculture

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.

Makueni Farmers to Receive Financial Boost through Saccos.

The Department of Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperative Development in partnership with the National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth Project (NARIGP) has embarked on an ambitious plan to register Saccos in a bid to assist farmers access affordable credits and put more profits in their pockets.
 
Through the Saccos, farmers will be able to access financial resources to boost their productivity and profitability.
 
According to Agriculture chief officer Daniel Ndolo, limited access to financial resources has been a major setback to farmers’ ability to adopt agriculture investments
 
In the new plan, the county government through the department is targeting to form and register a Sacco in each of the 30 wards across the county. So far, 7 Saccos are already legally established, with 6 of them having elected management and supervisory committees in place.
 
The management and supervisory committees’ members of the 6 Saccos underwent  induction training last week, in a bid to equip them with the necessary skills to run and manage the Saccos effectively.
 
The 7 Saccos are in the following  wards; Tulimani, Kako/Waia Masongaleni, Kilome, Thange, Kikumbulyu North and South and Kitise/Kithuki.
 
Once all the Saccos are automated and operational, they will receive a boost startup grant of upto Sh. 1 Million through the NARIGP project.
 
The county government is now calling upon farmers to join Saccos in large numbers so as to benefit maximally in agriculture production and profitability.

Regenerative Agriculture for improved food security

With the adverse effects of climate change, especially in Ukambani, many farmers are glaring at looming food insecurity.
 
However, this is not the case for 180 farmers drawn from various wards in Makueni County, who have adopted Regenerative Agriculture (RA), through , ‘ Strengthening Regenerative Agriculture in Kenya’, an ongoing program that is being spearheaded by the County Government of Makueni through the department of Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock Fisheries and Cooperative Development in partnership with  Alliance for Green Revolution Africa  (AGRA) and Cereal Growers Association ( CGA).
Regenerative Agriculture is a system of farming principles and practices that seeks to rehabilitate and enhance the entire ecosystem of the farm by placing a heavy premium on soil health with attention also paid to water management, fertilizer use, and more.
The 180 farmers who are also the Village Based Advisors( VBA)have been capacity built through training, peer to peer activities and farm demonstrations on RA principles.
Some of the principles include conservation tillage, minimum soil disturbance, rotation and crop covers, and diversity.
 
The VBAs are in turn cascading the RA knowledge to other farmers at the village levels, with an aim of enhancing food security at household levels.
 
The program is targeting to reach out to 30, 000 farmers directly through the VBA extension model.

The sky is now the limit for Huruma Women Group, a vibrant group of entrepreneurs in Kibwezi Town.

The sky is now the limit for  Huruma Women Group, a vibrant group of entrepreneurs in Kibwezi Town, after receiving Hybrid Solar-Biomass Mango drier unit from the Agriculture Sector Development Support Programme Phase Two (ASDSP II). 
The programme which is supported by Makueni County government is designed to boost their daily processing capacity.
The group adds value to horticultural produce such as vegetables and fruits through drying them and is now calling upon local farmers to take up full-time agricultural activities especially indigenous foods and vegetables, as their outfit is a ready market and locally accessible.