Siaya County allocates Ksh.1 million to expand horticulture and other farming practices
According to Dr. Elizabeth Odhiambo, the County Agriculture chief executive (CEC), the move comes after the successful piloting of crops and fish farming over the last six months.
She says in 2019, world bankd funded the r ehabilitation of five water pans which include Sandhof, Nyalnawe, Koga, Uranga and Futro, in semi-arid areas of the county, at a cost of Sh.100 million.
After the County government and other organizations, opted to begin agricultural projects for local communities, using the waters from the pans, the interested community members were enlisted into either horticultural or fish farming groups, then funded for the programme.
“Some 17 enlisted fish farmers harvested a total of 487 kg to earn sh.190, 000, from the sale of surplus fish, after setting aside some for domestic consumption,” The CEC said when she visited some of the projects where Futro community group that has ten members led in the sale of kales, earning sh.29, 000 in the last six months.
The donor funded, Agricultural Sector Development Support Program (ASDSP II) and Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project (KCSAP), were also involved in the projects, especially on capacity building and technical support.
“The overall objective of the projects is to boost food security and incomes for families who had been disadvantaged by scarcity of water,” said Dr. Odhiambo adding that 300 people who were enlisted in the pilot projects were now food secure.
