The Horn of Africa, an arid and semi-arid region (ASAL) used to have heavy rains and floods in the past but has since been replaced with prolonged drought.
The region that includes North and Eastern Kenya has experienced below-average rainfall for three consecutive years hence affecting both long and short rains causing deaths of livestock, crop failure and human deaths due to lack of food.
As pastoralist communities struggle to survive the disaster, crop farmers in Makueni County in eastern Kenya are slowly beginning to adapt courtesy of technology support from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).
“I have grown maize and beans but I continue to get a disappointing harvest that has not been enough to keep my family for one year as it used to be during the 1970s and 1980s.” -Peter Kimanzi
Peter Kimanzi a resident of Ngikuni village, Makindu Sub County, Makueni County in eastern Kenya has been a farmer all his life growing maize and beans.
The 56-year-old father of four had followed his parents’ footsteps of growing maize and beans perennially.
“I have grown maize and beans but I continue to get a disappointing harvest that has not been enough to keep my family for one year as it used to be during the 1970s and 1980s,” Kimanzi told Science Africa in an interview on his farm.
Kimanzi notes that his family is currently food secure and are capable of selling cereals courtesy of the training that was offered to him by a team of researchers from ICRISAT.
He reveals that the training enables him and other farmers to restore lands to drive back desertification and grow resilient to drought and climate change crops.
Kimanzi notes that the training has inculcated a mindset change towards growing maize into adoption of high-yielding, drought-tolerant, and early-maturing varieties of pearl millet, sorghum, green gram, and pigeon peas.
“We went through a high risk of famine in the past years due to the impact of drought that necessitated access to food and water in this region,” Kimanzi adds.
He says that today the risk the risk of famine has significantly decreased a sign that they have a solution and are now capable of feeding their families all year round.
Kimanzi notes that out of the investments after selling surplus produce, they have formed Muungano Self Help Group where they operate a table banking scheme every week where members are given soft loans.
“I have been planting millet, green gram and chickpea, pigeon pea for the past five years with no regrets,” Phoebe Mwagangi, a farmer says.
Mwagangi reveals that from harvesting one sack of millet from three acres, she now harvested 24 sacks from the same acres of land.
She says that farmers in the region nowadays plant during the two seasons with hopes that technology has saved them from making losses.
According to Dr. Henry Ojulong, Senior Scientist in charge of breeding at ICRISAT, the organization through Accelerating Impacts of CGIARs Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) are promoting drought-tolerant crops and climate-smart agronomy in eastern western, coastal Kenya.
Dr. Ojulong says that the project that is also being implemented in Zambia, Senegal and Niger is aimed at accelerating the adoption and impact of technologies that could help populations living in ASAL regions earn a living and also have food security.
He adds that the farmers are mainly growing high-yielding, drought-tolerant, and early-maturing varieties of pearl millet, sorghum, green gram, and pigeon peas.
The scientist reveals that so far, the project that was started last year has reached 243 leads and 90,000 farmers from 102 villages in Kenya.
He says that farmers are trained in good agronomic practices, pest control, mulching, timely planting and timely wedding.
He notes that the good news is that Kenyan farmers living in drylands have started to scale up the innovations as they cope with reduced amounts of rainfall and changing weather patterns.
Dr. Ojulong adds that the technologies are aimed at using the whole value chain integration strategy to support system-based approaches to mindset change and to optimize opportunities for youth job creation along the target value chains.
The scientist notes that due to the fast adoption of the project, ICRISAT is scaling the use of drought-tolerant crop technologies to additional counties in Kenya’s eastern, coastal, western and central parts of the country to reach 120,000 farmers to benefit more youths, young men and women.
Mwagangi observes that with climate change, seasonal rains have become unpredictable, and her region, which is a dryland that has faced perennial drought, is fast changing due to good soil health practices.
“These early maturing and drought-tolerant crops have helped me upgrade farming since to date I have exotic dairy cattle and have also upgraded the house I live in. I am happy with the transformation that has helped me and other farmers to be food secure,” he adds.
AUTHORS
Duncan Mboyah
SOURCE
Originally published on scienceafrica.co.ke
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