Efforts in Turkana yield reduction in food scarcity

Ms Alice Akuiya harvests watermelons that she grew at Napuu Irrigation Scheme in Lodwar, Turkana County, on August 25. The project was initiated by the county government and residents given portions of land to farm. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • In 2014, a drought report released by the Turkana County Steering Group showed that 440,845 people across all the 30 wards were in dire need of food.
  • National Drought Management Authority County Co-ordinator Julius Taigong says long-term drought resilience programmes have contributed to a drastic decline in the number of residents affected by hunger.
  • All county government departments are working closely to ensure that the most vulnerable villages have access to water, pasture, dispensary or an early childhood development centre with good roads connecting the villages.
  • Presence of food in schools has encouraged families to create permanent settlements that have attracted other socioeconomic investments.

For decades, the stock image of Turkana County has been that of an emaciated child from the pastoral community, begging bowl in hand, that often went viral.

That is because the community was vulnerable to recurrent drought that exposed thousands of residents to scarcity of food and water.

Donors, including Oxfam and the World Food Programme (WFP), have, in cooperation with the government, distributed relief food to the hunger-stricken.

In 2014, a drought report released by the County Steering Group showed that 440,845 people across all the 30 wards were in dire need of food.

The group, chaired by County Disaster Management Executive Charles Lokioto, however, says a recent similar announcement by the government appreciated, for the first time, concerted efforts of key players to initiate drought-resilience programmes.

The government situation report released on October 14 said 1.3 million people were urgently in need of food aid as a result of scarcity of food, water and pasture. It said all the 23 arid and semi-arid lands (Asal) counties were affected.

Devolution Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri listed Kilifi, Kwale, Tana River, Taita-Taveta, Garissa, Wajir, Kitui, Makueni, Samburu, Isiolo, Kitui and Mandera as the worst-hit counties.

But now, National Drought Management Authority County Co-ordinator Julius Taigong says long-term drought resilience programmes have contributed to a drastic decline in the number of residents affected by hunger.

PASTURE AVAILABILITY

In the September drought assessment draft report, the NDMA said the quality and quantity of pasture was fair in both agro-pastoral and pastoral livelihood zones that month.

“Compared to the previous month, there was a decline in pasture availability attributed to little recharge of rains, which is a normal occurrence in the pastoral region,” said the report.

All county government departments are working closely to ensure that the most vulnerable villages have access to water, pasture, dispensary or an early childhood development centre with good roads connecting the villages, said officials.

“The County Steering Group’s main aim is to ensure no one dies of hunger and providing alternative livelihood opportunities unique to the affected individual, household or village to withstand or adapt quickly to stress and shocks that come with drought,” said Mr Lokioto.

County Education Executive Margaret Kuchal told the Nation that the school feeding programme for nursery schools launched in 2014 has attracted 7,800 new pupils as the centres are strategically located in the villages.

“We have spent Sh135 million on procuring food for all our children in all nursery schools in addition to the WFP’s Sh90 million, which was the allocation for this year, after we realised that the previous allocation was inadequate for the ever increasing number of children at the centres,” said Ms Kuchal.

She said food is a major contributor to school enrolment and retention in a county where majority of the parents are poor. 

Ms Kuchal said presence of food in schools has encouraged families to create permanent settlements that have attracted other socioeconomic investments.

EMBRACING IRRIGATION

At the same time, more residents in drought-stricken villages are embracing irrigation farming. The 3,500 residents of Moruase village in Loima Sub-County have expanded their 40-acre piece of land to 500 acres to accommodate more crops in a bid to fight persistent hunger.

The chairman of the village farm, Mr Peter Lopawoi, said he has a register of farmers who have been receiving payments to work on their small portions through the United States Agency for International Development (USAid)-funded Food for Asset Programme that is meant to diversify livelihoods in the arid region.

The villagers have harvested sorghum, cowpeas and maize at our farm along River Turkwel and are producing enough for their families, with the rest being sold at nearby centres.

“We have been faced with recurrent drought since I was born, despite our land having a potential to grow food crops,” Mr Lopawoi recalled. “We had lost hope as our goats also died for lack of pasture or stolen by raiders.”

During last year’s visit to the farm, USAid Mission Director Karen Freeman told the Nation that lack of water was the main challenge to food production in the arid region, exposing thousands of Kenyans to hunger and starvation, despite a large acreage of fertile land.

“Sh17 million is being spent on the expansion of the Moruase Irrigation Project,” said Ms Freeman.

She said part of the funds are being spent on construction of a one-kilometre concrete canal and a 400-metre earth canal that will direct water from permanent River Turkwel to the farm, which the pastoralists have already divided into smaller plots of about an acre each.

The Resilience and Economic Growth in Arid Lands — Improving Resilience (REGAL IR) activity programme is to shift villagers from the tradition labour-intensive agricultural activities to a more modern form of irrigation, she added.

A Japanese agency pumped in Sh350 million for water projects aimed at enhancing community resilience against drought in northern Kenya counties of Turkana and Marsabit.

During its three-and-a-half-year project, Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) constructed 20 boreholes — since February 2012 — in Turkana villages such as Milima Tatu, Kerio and Lopii following the worst drought in the area in 2011. The drought was caused by failure of rains.

Mr Charles Lopuya, the chief of Kaptur Location, told the Nation that the 17 months of peace between the Turkana and Pokot in the agro-pastoral  border region has seen hundreds of farmers engage in farming.

Highway banditry has for decades left hundreds of people in Kapedo, Kamuge, Napeitom, Lorogon and Lochakula sidelined in the relief food programme.

“Whenever there was a raid, a household was either left without  a breadwinner, who was shot dead, or the entire family possession of sometimes more than 300 goats driven away,” said Chief Lopuya. “Migration to safer villagers along the border with neighbouring West Pokot County rolled out an initiative of rehabilitating land that used to be battlefields for bandits nine months ago to expand land for irrigation.”

This was made possible by the ongoing fruitful peace talks between the Turkana and Pokot, which have seen officials from both counties hold several border meetings to strengthen harmonious interaction.

Ms Sarah Akai, a farmer from Katilu village, said there is now more than 800 acres of additional land that has been cleared for planting along River Turkwel that was hitherto inaccessible due to constant attacks from bandits.

“We are receiving technical support from National Irrigation Board (NIB) officials based in the area to ensure maximum yields from our farms to address shortage of food; that is our main challenge,” said Ms Akai.

Turkana County Water, Irrigation and Agriculture chief officer Paul Ekutan said the devolved unit spent Sh55 million on agricultural activities, including purchase of seeds and farm tools that were supplied to the farmers.

Mr Ekutan said farmers who are far away from River Turkwel had been allocated Sh21.1 million for rain water harvesting during this rainy season to promote dry land farming.

CLEARED BUSHES

He said the county’s initiative has benefited more than 3,000 farmers who own  an extended 1,500 acres of land near the border with the Pokot through the support of NIB, which cleared the bushes and channelled water from River Turkwel to the farms through canals.

The county’s Disaster Management Department is, however, not leaving anything to chance, and immediately deployed teams led by chiefs in various locations to assess the situation.

“We have acquired six Land Cruisers and motorcycles at a cost of Sh60 million to facilitate our mitigation, preparedness and response strategy teams,” said Mr Lokioto.

The County Steering Committee is co-ordinating with sectors such as health, water, agriculture and livestock to come up with a county report on drought in the county and recommendations to seal loopholes.

Disaster Management Chief Officer Daniel Ing’olan said investment in critical devolved functions such as health, water and agriculture in strategic drought-prone villages has improved livelihoods.

“We have sunk boreholes in grazing zones to reduce distances of pastoralists to water points as well as major settlements in the far flanked areas,” said Major (Rtd) Ing’olan.

The chief officer said investment in irrigated farming has increased food accessibility in the region, especially along riverine areas in Turkana East, Turkana South and Loima sub-counties.

He said the county government has improved fishing activities along Lake Turkana after procuring 15,000 fishing gear that it donated to fishermen with all beach management units trained on how to manage proper fishing.

Mr Ing’olan said employment opportunities and contracts by the county have financially empowered many residents either directly or indirectly.