Posted on October, 31, 2019 at 08:51 am
By EUTYCAS MUCHIRI Correspondent, Nyeri - The Star
The World Bank is to spend Sh25 billion on the Kenya Climate-Smart Agriculture Project being undertaken in 24 counties.
KCSAP task team leader Vinay Vutukuru on Monday said the objective of the project is to improve the productivity, profitability and resilience of farmers. It will run until February 2022.
Vutukuru said this will be done through on-farm investment through subprojects and micro-projects meant to improve soil quality and water management.
“We are also bringing in the best agriculture research, seed technology, market information and price information that the farmer can access and improve his productivity and access market and thereby improve his resilience,” he said.
The approach the project is taking is informed by global best practices, he said, adding that this is how climate change is being dealt with to build resilience the world over. He spoke when a team from the World Bank visited Nyeri county.
The bank is the country’s financial partner in the implementation of KCSAP. Its mission visits Kenya every six months to check on the progress and see whether there are any reviews that need to be done. They also offer support and advice to the implementation team.
Nyeri Agriculture executive James Wachihi said KCSAP is meant to tackle climate change.
"Climate change is here with us and it is affecting us as a farming community in a big way. We want to see how we can mitigate [the problem] and enhance resilience on the part of our farmers," he said.
This will ensure that when drought strikes, the farmers are still able to grow food crops and be food-secure, he said.
Wachihi said the project will improve agricultural productivity and reduce greenhouse gasses. He said they are in their third year of implementation.
The county government is also working with the World Bank to desilt two community dams.
“We have also been able to set up three community masonry tanks to address the issue of water, especially in parts of Kieni, which is an arid and semi-arid land,” he said.
Wachihi said Nyeri has 20 subprojects lined up for funding this financial year and the proposals have been shared with the national office for vetting.
Source: The Star