LAIKIPIA, Kenya- As the effects of climate change worsen, more farmers understand they must take specific actions to maintain agricultural production.
Farmers in arid and semi-arid regions are especially vulnerable during these challenging times.
However, experts are now offering ways for farmers to cope with this new phenomenon, such as reducing water usage, preserving soil fertility and moisture, and raising yields.
Y News understands that soils impacted by salt and a pH of 7 or above are predominant in arid and semi-arid environments.
Because there isn’t enough rain in areas where precipitation falls short of potential evapotranspiration, the cations produced by mineral weathering build up. In dry settings, less leaching equals less soil acidity.
Laikipia County Crops Officer Margaret Wambui Munyiri told Y News that she deals with food security and small-scale farmers in the region, meaning she has a lot on her plate if effective agricultural production is anything to go by.
“Our main objective in the agriculture department as a county government is to ensure we achieve food security and increased productivity and profitability for our small-scale farmers. We also ensure our farmers conserve the environment when practicing agriculture,” Wambui said.
However, the major challenge experienced in arid areas of Wambui revealed that the regional government’s biggest challenge is prolonged droughts.
“As you know, this is a semi-arid area, and we usually don’t have enough rain. We have experienced about five seasons when we have not had enough rain,” Wambui explained.
Wambui revealed that the county government has embraced smart agriculture practices to address this.
“Some of these practices are conservation agriculture, especially in the dry seasons, which improves the environment and doubles the yield,” she added.
According to Wambui, the regional unit urges local farmers to embrace drought-escaping crops like the Nyota Beans, a new variety from the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO).
“Nutritionally, it is a good bean because it adds iron and zinc. It is a fast-maturing crop. We are also doing efficient water management,” she said.
The effects of changing weather patterns
Y News understands that most of Kenya’s agriculture depends on rainfall.
However, due to the changing weather patterns caused by the devastating effects of climate change, farmers are at the mercy of an uncertain rainfall regime.
This is also due to Kenya’s rainfall exhibiting complex regional and temporal variability, a scenario still exacerbated by climate variability and climate change.
The situation is worse in 85pc of our country, which comprises arid and semi-arid regions.
What coexistence of food systems in Laikipia entail
When reached for comment, Boniface Kiteme, the Director of the Centre for Training and Integrated Research in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands Development, based in Nanyuki, Laikipia county, revealed that the organisation had conducted a six-year research project on the coexistence of food systems in the region.
“We have looked at three different systems. i.e., the international food systems whose character is the production that targets the international market, and in this case, around the mountain, there is quite a lot of work happening around the horticultural activities,” explained Kiteme.
The second, Kiteme disclosed, is the national food system that produces on a medium to large scale, especially wheat, milk, or beef, to feed the nation and market it in our neighbouring countries.
“This also looks at the local production for consumption, and the little that may remain is then sold locally,” Kiteme said, adding that the organisation, based on a bilateral instrument between the Kenyan government and the government of Switzerland, is a six-year project that has been looking at ways that can help to manage the effects of invasive weeds in the country.
Livestock production in Laikipia county
On this note, Daniel Muraguri, an officer in charge of livestock production in Laikipia county, said he deals with all activities involving livestock production, training farmers and groups, and marketing.
“We are also trying to control the invasive plant species. They are invading the livestock feeding areas. There are some ways of controlling them, probably through physical means. You can mechanically uproot them, burn them, or use biological methods. You can also keep the right stock so you don’t overgraze the area,” he explained.
Laikipia is a semi-arid area; when it is a semi-arid area, it means how well livestock is kept.
“Specifically, we deal with the red meat value chain. This means that farmers keep sheep, cattle, goats, and camels. The last three or four years have been very bad because we have had a long, prolonged drought, and our farmers have experienced heavy losses,” said Muraguri.
Muraguri observed that the farmers had been forced to transfer their livestock from Laikipia to areas like Nyeri in search of pasture.
“You know Laikipia is warm; when you go to Nyeri, it is cold. So, when the animals go there, they die. So, we are trying to develop grazing systems where the local communities will have structures and implement systems where animals can be grazed on highlands when wet. But then, they can be grazed in lowlands when it is dry,” he explained.
Water conservation in Laikipia county
Wambui further stated that the county government is enhancing drip irrigation and water storage regarding scooping water.
“We are also enhancing the planting of fruit trees like avocados, macadamias, mangoes, and passion fruits because, by doing so, it improves the environment, you also achieve food security and earn some income through it,” Wambui said, adding that recently, the devolved unit distributed over 10,000 seedlings of fruit trees across the county.
Wambui described conservation agriculture as a technology used in semi-arid areas because it has several pillars, including minimum soil disturbance, crop rotation, and maximum soil cover.
“Therefore, when you put all these pillars into practice, we reduce the loss of water, which is a problem in Laikipia; we also achieve carbon sequestration because when you do the mould-type plough, we release the carbon, which we then expose to the environment and have the greenhouse gases,” she said.
Why Kenya farmers should embrace conservation agriculture
By embracing conservation agriculture, Wambui said farmers in the Governor Joshua Irungu-led administration will improve water infiltration and the moisture and organic matter in the soil, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“So, this is a mitigation technology we are embracing,” she added.
Meanwhile, Muraguri flagged out conservation agriculture, which uses minimum water and the most effective technologies, like drip irrigation or, at the very worst, overhead.
“The issue of flood irrigation must be completely stopped,” he cautioned.
Muraguri revealed they are doing a lot of training and capacity building so local farmers can rear the right number and breed of livestock to get a ready market for their produce. We also select the animals and feed them with quality feed so that they can easily get to the market.
“On this note, we plan to construct hay banks so that our farmers can store hay when there is plenty of it and release it during the dry seasons. We are also doing disease control so that our animals can remain healthy, which has to do with deworming,” he added.
The county government equates the current land size in Laikipia to about one livestock unit and 10 acres.
One cow can be sustained on one acre throughout the year. Muraguri reiterated that this is how you keep the right stocking rate. And one livestock unit has 100 cows.
Crop diversification in Laikipia county
Muraguri, at the same time, said the county government is also encouraging local farmers to diversify by embracing other forms of farming, like beekeeping.
“We are capacity-building our farmers on beekeeping and keeping the right hives instead of the traditional ones that you can now harvest probably three times per year. And one hive can probably give you 20 kg per season to get 60 kg per year. And at 60, one kg is going at Sh500. So, you see, one hive can fetch you, say, KSh 30,000,” he added.
Meanwhile, Laikipia is among the counties that have benefited from UN Women’s projects supported by the Korean government.
Laikipia has benefited from over 4.4 million US dollars (KSh 569 million) to empower women.
Other counties adopting the project, which aims to promote climate-smart agriculture technologies, are Kitui and West Pokot.
