Boda boda that can irrigate crops and ferry farm inputs

For most small-holder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, irrigating crops is a challenge due to lack of simple, affordable, reliable and efficient irrigation technologies.

UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation, in a report, backs this saying the major bottleneck to increased irrigated food production in sub-Saharan Africa is lack of cost-effective productive technologies.

To address that need, a firm — Makindu Motors — is rolling out a technology to help solve that problem.

The Skygo motorcycle which has a pump connection point on it, can pump water in farms for irrigation purposes plus helping in other farming activities like transportation of produce to the market.

This is welcome news especially for farmers who have to water their crops using time and labour consuming means like using a bucket.

The proprietor, Stephen Musyoka, says the motorbike imported from China, can do irrigation and a farmer can also use it to carry farm produce from the farm to the market or any other destination.

Easy to operate

“A farmer can carry around 300 kilos of onions and the fuel consumption is very minimal. It can double a farmer’s productivity,” he explains.

For a farmer who intends to use it for irrigation, Musyoka says it can pump from a bore hole of 20m height with a rapid speed.

“You don’t need a special pipe to pump water but the normal 2inch or 1.5inch pipe. It is also easy to operate,” he says.

For a one acre farm on onions, for instance, the motorbike uses one litre of petrol can go for one hour because you are able to control the rate or speed of the water.

Every good technology has a downside, so what’s the flip side?

“Of course it’s a machine like any other and it can breakdown. But the good thing is that we have spares for replacement and we have trained engineers to handle any technical challenges that may arise,” Musyoka says.

With a retail price of Sh120,000, some experts are of the view that the motorbike pricing may be out of the reach of the average small holder farmer.

Grace Mureithi, an agricultural innovations expert from the University of Nairobi points out that inasmuch as the motorbike serves an important need in addressing food security, most small scale farmers may not afford it.

“Yes the motorbike is great in irrigation but the concern is that many farmers cannot afford it,” Mureithi says.

According to the expert, in addition to the motorbike, there are other efficient and cheaper options like the bicycle which does not use petrol to power the pump.

How they work

“The bicycle is significantly cheaper to buy, operate and maintain. Instead of the expensive fuel, it uses the peddling motions to power the pump,” she explains.

Bicycles that can pump water for irrigation, is a food security project being spearheaded by USAid in developing countries.

This is how it works — a farmer buys a low-tech pump to attach to his bicycle, which allows him to pump water simply by pedaling.

As she rides the bike, the water pressure builds and pushes the water up to five meters high into a rain barrel. From there, it can be used to irrigate a farm field.

Indeed, studies show that a good irrigation system for global South countries ought to be low-cost in terms of energy requirements, simple in design and operation, with few manufactured parts that must be imported and cheap to maintain.

To circumvent the cost issue, Musyoka argues that for those farmers who would want to invest in this technology but constrained due to the price, they can form groups to boost their purchasing power.

That aside, the technology which was showcased for the first time at the Nakuru Showground in 2015, has received commendations from various quarters.

“To showcase this innovation, we have participated in several exhibitions in the country. We have also received positive commendations from the Government. At the 2015 Agricultural Show, the then Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture Felix Kosgei lauded the technology and said it was a good machine for enhancing food security and boosting national growth,” says Musyoka.

So far, Musyoka says the uptake has been impressive.

Jacob Mutisya, a farmer from Kibwezi who bought his in October 2015 says it has come in handy in his farm.

“This bike has helped me put food on the table for my family. I could hardly harvest anything from my two-acre farm but after I bought this bike, I can now irrigate my farm. I connect the bike’s pump to Mzima springs and water my farm which is nearby,” he says.

“I can also carry my farm produce from the farm to my home or to the market and my son uses it to do boda boda business,” he adds.

Indeed, the entry into the market of such simple and innovative farming solutions goes a long way in boosting food security given that most farms in Africa with Kenya included are not arable.

Reports show Kenya has 5.4 million hectares of arable land, but only 17 per cent of this is suitable for rain-fed farming.