Ksh. 149 M Issued To Small Scale Farmers In Climate Smart Agriculture Programme

World Bank projects that by 2050, the world will need to produce about 70% more food to cater for an estimated 9 billion people.

The growing demand for food production against climate change poses a challenge to food security.

To secure the future of the world, Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) programme was launched in November 2018 between the Government of Kenya, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with an aim to boost Kenya’s CSA strategic plan of 2017-2026.

The programme aims to increase productivity of food, mitigate against erratic weather patterns and other shocks such as pests, diseases and drought.

Its coordination framework and implementation will be harmonized by the inter-governmental structures that will help achieve transformation within the agricultural sector, to address food security and climate change challenges.

With at least 59% of households experiencing changes in the environment and climate, adaptive capacity is as low as 11% in Elgeyo Marakwet. Through this programme, World Bank has funded Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo Marakwet county farmers with Ksh. 149 million to boost food production by supporting irrigation.

The funds intend to target potato farming, chicken rearing and tomato production by small scale farmers. It is also meant to support environmental conservation through agro weather, market, climate and advisory services.

Uasin Gishu Governor, Jackson Mandago highlighted that the programme is targeting 300 households and intends to put 100 acres under irrigation, so as to encourage farmers to carry out afforestation for the county and recover 10% of forest cover.

With partners like World Bank, farmers are urged to move away from subsistence farming and venture into commercial farming. This will ensure farmers are able to grow food crops across all seasons.

Effects of climate change are real and opting to increase climate smart agricultural practices as a measure of promoting food security is paramount. There is also need to strengthen research on CSA seed systems and environmental conversation globally.