Kisumu County Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o has stated that his administration will continue to invest in agriculture which is critical to ensuring food security.
He noted that his administration has trained and supported 255 farmer groups across three value chains of cassava, chicken, and sorghum in six (6) wards in the County.
He added that the move is aimed at building resilience to climate change risks through a partnership with the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project (KCSAP).
“We have put up 10 water pans and boreholes serving more than 500 households. The benefiting areas included Kodikre Water Pan. There are also auxiliary structures in Central Nyakach ward, Holo Orucho Water Pan, East Kano/Wawidhi ward, Gem Rae Irrigation Scheme, Kaloo Borehole, Siany CC3 Irrigation Project, Awach Kano Irrigation Project, Kaloka Borehole and Banda Works in East Seme and Chiga Irrigation Project in Kolwa East among others,” he added.
The governor stated that they have so far registered 22, 763 farmers with the department’s digitization programme.
“The beneficiaries receive agro-weather information through their mobile phones to help them make informed decisions on weather patterns and planting cycles,” he added.
Nyong’o said his government is working closely with the national government’s National Agriculture Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP) to increase market participation and value addition for targeted farmers in select value chains (chicken, dairy, tomatoes, cotton and rice) in project areas.
He added that the national government has hired 45 supervisors at different levels and 600 enumerators to help in the farmer profiling exercise in Kisumu County ahead of the NAVCDP programme commencement.
He further divulged that they have installed a new rice mill in Ahero which will enhance rice cultivation by 500 hectares.
“The expansion of rice irrigation areas and mapping of more irrigation schemes has improved food and nutrition security within the project area,” he said.
In the fisheries department, his administration has distributed 87,400 kilograms of fish feeds to 582 farmers.
‘There was also direct assistance to 7,752 fisher folks who were supported with 282 pond liners and 587 predator kits to ensure production is not impaired,’ he said, adding that 459 farmers and 4 public primary schools have also been supported with 463,300 fingerlings.
The county also provided fingerlings and fish feed worth Ksh3 million to fishermen who lost fish during the massive death of fish in cages at Ogal Beach.
‘38 youth entrepreneurs were trained in fish entrepreneurship and their direct contribution is projected to inject an additional Ksh11 million into the sector by the end of this year,’ he said.
Nyong’o said they have partnered with Aquarech, a Kisumu based Start-up Company, to improve small-scale farmer economics and promote the overall growth of the aquaculture industry.
“Aquarech is working to streamline fish farming with a mobile app platform that allows manufacturers, farmers and buyers to trade, buy, and sell quality fish-feed as well as learn the best aquaculture practices and how to improve their incomes,” he stated.
In the dairy and livestock sub-sectors, the governor said they have focused on the improvement of milk production, household incomes, nutrition, and food security in the county.
They have so far distributed 515 calf dairy cows to 500 farmers, in addition to 706 dairy and galla goats resulting into a 10% increase in annual milk production in the past two years.
Through the commercialization of poultry production, the county has distributed 49 chicks to farmer groups leading to increased household income and improved food and nutrients in the last two years.
The county has also trained 7,000 farmers on best practices to improve productivity in the livestock sector.
By Fredrick Odiero
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