Drought-stricken residents of Tana-River and Kilifi counties on Friday received 62,000 bags of maize harvested from the Galana-Kulalu Irrigation Project.
In what is seen as the Government’s effort to demonstrate viability of the project, Water and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa and his counterpart for Devolution and Special Programmes Mwangi Kiunjuri flagged off two trucks carrying the maize to Ganze in Kilifi County.
“Today as a line ministry we are happy that after years of research, after years of developing infrastructure, we can actually say something good has come out of Galana,” said Mr Wamalwa at the event that was also attended by Tana River Governor Hussein Dado.
The 62,000 bags of maize were harvested from a 2,500-acre model farm in the irrigation project.
The Government plans to scale up the project to 10,000 acres, with yields expected to rise from the current 31 bags per acre to 40 bags per acre.
The increased yields are as a result of four varieties of maize, which experts say have adapted well with the soil and the area’s climate.
When the project started, about 13 varieties were tested from which the National Irrigation Project was able to realise only 13 bags from an acre in its first pilot phase.
Apart from food, Mr Wamalwa said his ministry was also mobilising resources to get water to drought-affected areas. The drought situation is so intense that the residents of neighbouring Mombasa County on Thursday held special prayers for rain.
“We want to say as Government that we are not just going to wait for rains. We must develop our irrigation infrastructure,” said Mr Wamalwa.
NOT KNEE-JERK REACTION
Residents of 14 arid and semiarid lands (Asals) in the country have seen almost all their livestock and crops die due to the ongoing drought.
“So far, we have harvested very good maize that has been tested and found to be aflatoxin-free,” said the CS.
Aflatoxin is a class of toxic compounds that are produced by certain molds found in food.
Three different harvests have so far been done from the Galana project, one of the major Vision 2030 initiatives.
speaking at the event, CS Kiunjuri dismissed claims that the distribution of the 62,000 bags of maize from the project was a knee-jerk reaction from the Government, saying it has always distributed relief food.
“In 2013, we used to feed 2.4 million people every month. Today, we are only feeding 1.5 million Kenyans,” he said.
The Government has been forced to double its distribution of relief food from the normal 30,000 bags monthly as the hunger bites in most parts of the country.
NIB projects to plant 2,000 acres of maize every month and intends to complete the entire 10,000 acres at Galana by September next year as the laying of water pipes and clearing of bushes have been done.
OTHER COUNTIES
The plan is to increase the number of maize distributed for relief food from 62,000 to 100,000 bags.
Mr Wamalwa said after its completion, Galana will be opened up to both local and international investors.
Other counties that have been affected by drought and which will also benefit from such irrigation projects as Galana include Pokot, Lodwar and Turkana.
Kenya for long has depended on the Rift Valley as its bread basket.
