Conservation agriculture: The future of farming in Laikipia County, Kenya

 

Longer periods of drought and erratic and below-average rainfall in Laikipia Kenya have been making farming increasingly difficult over the years. In combination with declining soil fertility and deep-rooted practices of low-farm input application, agricultural productivity in the region has been on steep decline, leaving many farmers desperately staring at famine. However, with introduction of conservation agriculture (CA) via Conservation Agriculture for Resilient Food Security and Profitability in Laikipia County of Kenya (CA4FS) in 2013, Kenyan farmers are regaining hope.

CA4FS activities are implemented in laikipia and Machakos County by ACT in collaboration with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and Ministry of Agriculture. Over the last 9 months, CA4FS has been conducting 112 on-farm trials in Laikipia using CA techniques: minimum tillage, crop residue management, intercropping (With Maize-Lablab/ Sorghum- Pigeon peas), and participatory treatments selection. Members of Sirima CBO, Laikipia Central Sub- County, have started using these techniques. “We were in a desperate situation. Maize for us is not only our staple crop; it is also a major cash crop. But yields have been dwindling to levels where they could not sustain our food requirements,” stated Peter Mathenge, the group Secretary. “However, conservation agriculture has brought fortunes. With soils regaining fertility and farmers adopting good agricultural practices, yields have started increasing.

Conservation agriculture has also come with low farming costs, as we do not have to invest in time consuming, labor intensive, and costly ploughing and weeding activities. We have decided to adopt the conservation agriculture because of these benefits.” Mathenge stated during the Monitoring and Evaluation Mission that was conducted by Dr. Rebbie Harawe, Senior Soil Health Program Officer for Alliance for green revolution for Africa (AGRA) on 10^th and 11^th July 2014.

The success of the trials encouraged ACT to organize a farmers’ field days to demonstrate the performance of CA technologies. The 1^st field day was held in Muramati Location in Daiga Division, laikipia East Sub-county, Laikipia County, on 18 July 2014, and attracted farmers from other locations at the neighborhood and over 7 exhibitors, including Sustainable community development  (SCODE), SunLife Kenya, The Kenya pollinators, Equity bank, Taifa Sacco, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Livestock Development, seed and fertilizer companies,  agro-dealers, and community-based organizations in agriculture, energy, and health.

During the Field Day, Peter Kuria, ACT Program officer-kenya, reiterated ACT’s commitment to developing resilient farming systems that can guarantee good yields even when faced with vagaries of climate change and degraded soils. “ACT will continue to develop new and improved technologies for enhanced agricultural productivity and improved livelihoods,” said Peter. The ACT program officer called on farmers start practicing CA so as to improve their yields and form producer groups which will enable them to sell their produces at better prices to reliable buyers. He also called on the county government to promote conservation agriculture by purchasing CA equipment’s instead of the conventional tillage ones.

Arthur Mathai, deputy director of Agriculture in the Ministry of Agriculture-Laikipia county, lauded the partnerships in implementing CA4FS, noting that it enhances collaboration and reducing implementation costs for partner organizations. “Together you can approach farmers with holistic packages to agricultural production and ensure competitiveness of the agricultural products,” he added. Mathai also noted that field days were critical in showcasing the best technologies, taking the technologies from the station to farmers’ fields, and involving farmers in the research process through their feedback. Mr Mugue, the Host farmer, stated that CA will be crucial for hunger reduction in Kenya.



 

 ANNEX

 

CA4FS CA Demonstration plots in Laikipia 

 

Training the school pupils CA equipment during field day at Muhonia village  

SunLife Kenya and Scode officers showcasing their products during field day

Mr. Arthur Mathai (The deputy director of Agriculture, Laikipia county) addressing the farmers during the field day

Compiled By: Boniface Njenga
                         ACT-Field Officer,
                         Laikipia County, Kenya,
                         Email: boniface.njenga@act-africa.org