Youth Irrigation Project to Be Started

Mwangi Muiruri

20 May 2011

Nairobi — A Sh2 billion youth-driven irrigation project will be launched in the next financial year.

The scheme in rangelands is in pursuit of Vision 2030 goals and will be coordinated by four ministries — Agriculture, Water and Irrigation, Youth and Sports and Regional Development.

By year 2014, at least 400,000 acres will be under active irrigation. By 2030, it will be 1.2 million acres.

The drive will use scientific and modern agriculture to increase employment in production, processing and marketing of cereals and horticulture, according to the government.

Director of irrigations and water storage in the water ministry, Robinson Gaita, said the money is from a joint venture between the Government, the African Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

So far, Sh2.1 billion has been spent on phase one that covered 2009/10.

In phase two, youth will grow maize, rice and horticulture.

“Reliance on rain fed agriculture will never work for us. The solution is treating rainfall as an added bonus especially in range lands,” he says in a report.

Phase one’s focus is on rehabilitation of 37 public irrigation schemes that had stalled. These are Bura, Hola, Tana Delta, Perkerra, Ahero, West Kano, South West Kano, Bunyala, Mwea and Kwa Yai.

“So far, the projects have had an average performance rate of 59 per cent for maize and 152 per cent in rice” Mr Gaita says.

According to the report, 540,000 ha will be developed using available water resources while the rest will use water harvesting and storage.

Mr Gaita says so far, 114,000 acres or 43 per cent are under small holders while national schemes account for 18 per cent and private ones filling the gap of 39 per cent.

He adds that by mid June 2010, a total of 78,620 bags of maize and 608,367 of rice, all valued at Sh809, 162, 500, had been harvested.

The report points out that the Agriculture ministry must be adequately funded and research-based agriculture be the driving force.

“Spending on farming must rise to 10 per cent of the government’s annual budget from the current 4.5 per cent,” the report reads.

The country also needs a fertiliser and agro-chemicals factory to subsidise farmers’ costs.

Other recommendations are development of reservoirs and grain handling mechanisms, as well as strong early warning systems of disease outbreaks, which have to be effected.

In phase one, the report notes storing cereals was a problem as there were “alarming cases of aflatoxin” on maize.

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