Kenya shifts from rain-fed agriculture to stem food crisis

Kenya marked a major milestone when President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga launched a multi-billion-shilling initiative that is expected to end perennial food shortages in the country.

For the first time since independence, the government showed its seriousness to shift from rain-fed agriculture to irrigation that would in five years see more than one million hectares put under crop production.

The two leaders and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka on Monday oversaw the rehabilitation of the 2,500-hectare Hola Irrigation Scheme that collapsed 20 years ago.

Currently the country, which consumes 33 million bags of maize annually, faces serious shortage with the yields predicted to drop from targeted 27 million to 20 million bags due to poor rains this year.

Apart from Hola, three other irrigation schemes – Mwea, Ahero and Bura – are also to be expanded and revived under the government’s new grand plan.

If fully utilised, the irrigation schemes could help the country realise an extra 14 million bags of maize per season.

In total, 40,000 hectares are to be placed under irrigation this year before being increased to a million hectares in the long term.

The country’s over-reliance on rain-fed agriculture has resulted in millions of people facing famine year after year due to changing weather patterns.

The high costs of equipment and poor technology have in the past been blamed for failure by the government to fully embark on irrigation despite huge potential.

Examples have been given of countries like Egypt and Israel which, despite being in deserts, produce surplus food for export. Kenya had started well through the establishment of various irrigation schemes in the Kenyatta and early Moi regimes but they collapsed.

But hit by persistent famine, the Grand Coalition Government this year gave the revival of the projects priority by setting aside money in the Budget for their revival.

On Monday for instance, the government launched a Sh2 billion irrigation programme under the National Economic Stimulus Programme, intended to boost food production in the country.

It is expected that under the programme, more employment opportunities would be created in production, processing and marketing of produce from the irrigation schemes.

Agriculture minister William Ruto said during the re-launch of the Hola Irrigation Scheme that more than 900 farmers would benefit from the project.

Initially, the Nation has learnt, the farmers will be allocated two acres each after the scheme comes into full force. But with time, the acreage is likely to increase to three.

“The government will also provide the farmers with seeds and fertilisers – free of charge – to make the scheme a success,” said Mr Ruto.

The National Irrigation Board (NIB) and the National Youth Service personnel will, at the initial stage, assist farmers develop the scheme to its full potential.

“This is the launch of a new dawn of the future of food security in Kenya. We want to ensure that we produce enough food for Kenyans and have a surplus which will be sold to other countries,” said Mr Ruto.

Hola Irrigation and Settlement Scheme is among the oldest schemes under NIB, having been started in 1953 by the colonial government as a holding camp for detainee labour.

Agricultural activities at the scheme stopped way back in 1989 when River Tana naturally changed course at Laini water intake point, thus leaving it without water for irrigation purposes.

“It is this changing of the course of the river that led to the collapse of the scheme. This left several farmers without any stable source of income,” says Mr Francis Njoroge, the scheme’s deputy general manager.

Before the scheme collapsed, he adds, the main cash crop grown in the area was cotton. “Others were groundnuts and maize, inter-cropped with cow peas. They were grown in small-scale as subsistence food crops for farmers,” he says.

Since the 1990s when farming activities came to a standstill, the government tried a number of measures to revive the scheme.

The first step towards achieving this goal was realised when the government acquired funds from Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Badea) to conduct a feasibility study for the scheme. After a successful feasibility study, the donors pledged to rehabilitate the scheme with funds in the tune of Sh500 million.

This was to cover Phase I of the rehabilitation programme, which focused on the earlier developed 900 hectares. There were further proposals to have the scheme expanded by developing an extra 2,500 hectares during the Phase II of the scheme.

While launching Hola Irrigation Scheme, President Kibaki said the government intended to increase the area under irrigation from the current 120,000 hectares to 400,000.

He directed that the other irrigation schemes like the Tana Delta, Perkerra, Mwea, Ahero, West Kano and Bunyala, be put under maize and rice crops. Production in these schemes is expected to start by October, this year. Through this, the government expects to produce 370,000 bags of maize and 600,000 bags of rice by February 2010 at a cost of Sh2 billion.

But the Head of State was disappointed that the agricultural sector in the country was highly dependent on rainfall, which had now become “unpredictable and unreliable”.

“Today, drought conditions are persisting for longer periods and rainfall has become erratic. This has negatively affected our food production, leading to a serious food crisis. And as a result, we have been forced to import huge amounts of food using valuable foreign exchange reserves,” said President Kibaki.

Mr Ruto said the country had the potential to produce food for its citizens and sell the surplus to other countries.

Cannot afford

“Food prices are still high. Many Kenyans cannot afford them. It is therefore important that we put in place adequate measures to ensure that people have enough food,” he said.

Similar concerns have been raised by the Prime Minister and the Vice-President and a host of Cabinet ministers who also stress the need for Kenya to embrace irrigation as a way out of the food crisis.

Mr Odinga said he was unhappy with the way the country kept “begging” for food yet it had the potential to produce its own.

“Countries like Egypt do not have adequate rainfall but are making good use of River Nile for irrigation purposes. It’s a big shame that we are not doing the same,” said Mr Odinga.

The VP on his part urged Kenyans to “take seriously” the move to irrigate farms. “Times have changed. Kenya has the capacity to produce its own food and more for export. We can only achieve this feat sufficiently if we make full use of our own irrigation potential,” he said.