Solar ups farm yields while protecting Earth

The village is the ultimate symbol of authentic natural life.

It, then, naturally follows that youth and women are the souls of the village — the ultimate army of reserve labour.

And when they form groups and introduce concepts such as human capital investment — as in tilling land together or even savings and investments in form of chamas and table banking — they become a formidable force in economic liberation.

Farmer groups in rural Kenya possess rare and indigenous skills that impart strong sociocultural bonds which cement their kinships.

They have acquired pass-me-down skills which are not tied to attainment of education, especially higher education related to jobs or employment.

It is for this reason that a private member’s bill in the National Assembly on farmer registration presents a panacea to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s legacy pillar on job creation.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

First, such organisations offer a new and alternative opportunity for farmers to get ahead.

Registered farmer enterprises draw on the collective effort of many people and partnerships and have a greater capacity to produce not only income for those involved but also a surplus that can be distributed to meet social ends.

Secondly, they will have the benefit of incorporation and legal recognition as envisaged in the bill, enabling them to enter into binding contracts, have perpetual existence, acquire collective capital investments and form partnerships.

The DaCCA (Devolution and Climate Change Adaptation) Programme is an example. It is managed as a strategic partnership between public benefits organisations, financial institutions, input suppliers, dam liner supplier, devolved governments and climate-resilient technology suppliers.

DaCCA, which is in the pilot phase, aims to achieve multiple Sustainable Development Goals — SDG 2 (food security), 7 (clean energy) and 13 (climate action).

UNIQUE MODELS

This is in harmony with the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (Sard).

The finance partners provide tailored loans to the subscribed farmers.

The farmer-friendly packages include credit life insurance with competitive interest rates, a grace period aligned to ‘farm to market’ crop life cycles and advisory services by wealth creation officers (WCOs) — latter-day agricultural extension officers.

Besides climate-resilient solar-powered irrigation technologies in form of solar water pumps for surface water storage and boreholes, dam liners for surface water storage, as well as agricultural inputs (including fertiliser, seeds and pesticides), are in the package.

The agricultural economy has unique economic models. One such is the “cobweb model”, which captures the alternative cycles of boom and bust in agricultural production.

The decision-making for future production is usually made with the current prices in mind; when there is glut (over supply), people disinvest in the crop in the subsequent season.

CLIMATE-CONSCIOUS

This is common in the production of staple foods like maize, and, of late, milk (of which there is a glut, forcing farmers to sell their produce at throwaway prices.

Over-reliance on rain-fed agriculture contributes to the cobweb nature.

Man needs to conquer the fluctuations of his environment — and in a manner that is in alignment with climate-resilient practices.

Ms Hassan is the Kisumu branch manager for SolarNow Kenya. [email protected].