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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.

The First Lady Anita Mutula was accompanied by her Wajir counterpart Rukia Abdinasir, EIDU Senior Project Lead Clara Ruiz Linaje, Abdirashid M. Jabane the Secretary Administration State Department of ICT among other key Education stakeholders

The First Lady Anita Mutula  was accompanied by her Wajir counterpart Rukia Abdinasir, EIDU Senior Project Lead Clara Ruiz Linaje, Abdirashid M. Jabane the Secretary Administration State Department of ICT among other key Education stakeholdersThis program is geared towards enhancing personalized learning, developing accountability among learners and teachers as well as improving written language skills and communication.The programme, launched by County First Lady Anita Mutula on Friday will benefit 35,574 learners in 1191 ECDE centres across the count.

H.E. governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr accompanied by senator Daniel Maanzo, several other leaders on Saturday attended Priests and Deacons Ordination Ceremony held at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Wote, Makueni Parish

H.E. governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr accompanied by senator Daniel Maanzo, several other leaders on Saturday attended Priests and Deacons Ordination Ceremony held at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Wote, Makueni Parish.
The ceremony was presided over by H.E. Hurbetus Maria Van Megan, the Apostolic Nuncio for Kenya and South Sudan, and Rt. Rev. Norman King’oo, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Machakos.
Governor Mutula expressed a close working relationship with clergy and extended his congratulations to the newly ordained team.
7 seminarians were ordained as deacons while 5 deacons were ordained as priests.
 
 
 

Let’s get back to our indigenous foods, Governor Mutula tells locals

Today, H.E Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr joined thousands of Makueni locals during the celebrations of the Akamba rich heritage majorly on indigenous foods.
The Governor encouraged a return to the consumption of the Akamba traditional food as a way of:
i.Appreciating the diversity and variety of our indigenous foods
and production processes;
ii. Creating an awareness on the rich nutritional value and healthy-living support capacity that our indigenous foods offer;
iii. Promote the uptake in production of indigenous food crops as a climate adaptation measure;
iv. Present an avenue for stakeholders in the indigenous food value chain to market and promote our foods.
and Demonstrating the commercial value of our indigenous foods;
He insisted that the Akamba culture must continue hence a need to look at ways of teaching the young people how to protect their culture.
 
 

H.E Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr on Friday morning attended Makueni Girls High School Thanksgiving and prize-giving day where he was event’s chief guest.

The school under Mary Irene Okoth, Chief Principal, in the last year’s KCSE examination produced 1-A (81 Points), 7 students had B+, several others getting direct entry into various Kenya’s top universities.
The governor promised to ensure the school gets enough water through equipping, distribution, and solarisation of a borehole recently sank by the County Government to provide a 24-hour water supply. The borehole will be producing 2.3 m3.

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.

PHYTODEPURATION FOR WOTE LEVEL V HOSPITAL LAGOONS.

The Department of Environment and Climate Change has commenced a Phytodepuration process, also known as natural treatment technique for the County Referral Hospital waste water lagoons, located near Shimo estate, Wote town.
 
This treatment involves planting of bamboo along the lagoons’ downward flow stream to act as a bio-filter of remnant toxins before the water is released to the nearby community for tree seedlings propagation and arrow roots cultivation.
 
The exercise, spearheaded by Environment and Climate Change Chief Officer Japheth Kiminza aims at ensuring 100 percent purification of the waste water through environmentally friendly mechanisms.

Governor presides over first-ever county enforcement officers pass out parade

H.E Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr on Thursday presided over the first-ever pass-out event for 48 Enforcement Officers at Unoa grounds, Wote, Makueni Sub-County.
The pass out followed a 4-week rigorous training at ATC Kwa Kathoka that involved; first aid, self-defense, customer service, and public relations among other skills.
During the ceremony, the governor expressed his administration’s commitment to recruiting more disciplined officers into the team.
H.E. the governor asked the officers to always work with dedication, and observe integrity while executing their roles.
 
 
 
 

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.

Makueni’s Efforts to Power Small and Midsize Enterprises among the Marginalized Groups.

A big problem in the current agricultural sector in the country are high prices for animal/chicken feeds due to high protein prices.
 
The Department of Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperative Development in partnership with Agriculture Sector Development Support Programme Phase Two (ASDSP II) has supported innovative ideas with prospects to women and youth in the priority value chains namely; indigenous chicken, mango and green grams.
Edwin Sila of Nguu-Masumba Ward is one of the beneficiaries of such ASDSP II-funded innovations. He now uses Black Soldier Fly Production and Harvesting unit (BSF), to produce protein-rich feed without having to buy expensive indigenous chicken feed.
 
The usage of the black soldier flies larvae as feed would decrease the cost of chicken feed for farmers and can lead to a more food-secure economy.
In the mango value chain, the Makueni County Fruit Processors Cooperative Society Limited, from Wote-Nziu Ward has also received mango de-sapping pallets to improve the quality of the produce for export.
 
The two innovations were commissioned on Wednesday by Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperative Development Chief Officer Dr. Victoria Kyalo accompanied by ASDSP II Coordinator Regina Maingi.