Makueni farmers embrace road run-off water to fight erratic rains in food production

A woman draws water at a tank which is part of the Masue Rock Water Catchment project in Makueni County on April 13, 2023. [Philip Muasya, Standard]

Makueni is a semi-arid region where farmers for years have relied on irregular rain patterns for farming with rain becoming more often undependable and insufficient to sustain crop production.

Due to such, farmers experience crop failures in most of her sub-counties with relief food being the only option.

According to weather forecasts, the October-November-December (OND) rain season in the region was expected be below average levels with the Makueni Director of Meteorological Services Jonathan Ngayai advising farmers to plant low-rain crops and embrace water harvesting.

Sure, to the forecast, the county has since experienced depressed rains and crops failed. However, to some farmers, they have survived the situation through using road run-off water directed to terraces in their farms to sustain their crops.

Rhoda Muvea, a farmer from Kaseve village, in Kako/Waia ward, Mbooni, is one of hundreds of farmers from this village who are using roads as instruments for harvesting water.

Last year before the onset of the short-rains together with other villagers she took advantage of the Kavingo-Ilela road where she diverted water from the road using mitre-drains into her farmland and with some directed to deep trenches.

“Initially the road was seen only as a means of transport until the county government came up with the idea of using road surface run-off. I embraced this technology and now have plenty of bananas, maize, and have planted mango trees inside some of the trenches where water retention is very high,” said Muvea as she took us around her farm.

A time like this last year, she would be counting losses as her village lies on the leeward side of Mbooni mountains which remains dry.

“I have also been able to keep few herds of cattle which depends on grass from the same farm. In return, the animals provide manure for the crops,” she added

In the neighbouring village of Ngilani, Nzioka Ngwasi is happy man. He came home two years ago from the city to save his village from being swallowed by a huge gulley that kept on advancing and expanding more rapidly.

“The gulley kept on becoming deeper and deeper over years until people couldn’t go to markets in the neighboring Kibauni area. The village had been cut into two. I had to come home to see how to contain it,” said Ngwasi.The villagers tried to contain the situation using sacks filled with sand, but it failed.

“My neighbours were slowly abandoning their homes until the county in collaboration with Meta Meta, an organization championing for capturing and storing runoff water from roads through their initiative “Green roads for water” came for our rescue,” said Ngwasi.

Here, it turned from a gulley of hopelessness to the place of plenty-thanks to the increased water usage by planting pasture, bananas, trees among other deep rooted plants to hold the soil structure firm.

“As people are lamenting over failed crops I have enough for my family of six with expected bumper harvest. It is not a must to use structural measures in controlling gullies which calls for a lot of money to build gabions, you can employ the use of revegetation as a priority since at the end you will have food for your family,” he added

Also, with regulated peak flows where other villagers have embraced road water catchment up stream, the gulley catchment has remained controlled.

In Nduluku, Elizebeth Mathingau, is a renown fruits farmer. She farms pixies, Ovacado, Mangoes, among other fruits for her living.

“Initially when I had no knowledge of road run off water my plants would experience harsh conditions and even fail in flowering stage. That is history now because sometimes they flower twice a year and the fruits are healthy and of quality,” Mathingau told the standard

She expects the tonnage to increase as she observes that with enough water there will be likelihood of longer moisture retention hence better formation and maturation of fruits in her 5 acre-farm.

“When we didn’t have these terraces connected to water from the roads it was hard for us as we would more often be forced to use donkeys and even fetch water from our backs during the dry period,” she said

Michael Maluki is a superintendent road Engineer. He observes that 166 families can be supplied with water every day from a 3Kms road if the technology is embraced.

“This shows clearly that roads can supply huge volumes of water for domestic, livestock, irrigation and construction works provided that harvested rainwater can be stored for use in the dry season,” Maluki state

 Eng. Peter Mumo, the County Executive Committee Member (CECM), for infrastructure, Transport, Public works and Energy  keys that Makueni roads are n eni roads are not only for transport but also a source of livelihood.

ot only for transport but also a source of livelihood.

The CECM states, that, “The Green Roads for Water Initiative aims at transforming the way roads are built and maintained across Makueni county by incorporating water management and re-greening in the design and construction of roads. The aim is to improve livelihoods and resilience of communities living around roads and doing away with negative impact such as erosion, flooding, sedimentation and dust, whereas at the same time improve the climate resilience of the road infrastructure itself and reduce water related road damage,”.

He continues, “with “Green Roads for Water,” we argue for a new approach where beneficial road water management is an integral part of the design, development, and maintenance of roads – promoting climate resilience but also tangible economic benefits,”.

The County now boasts of this approach which has pronounced itself to be cost effective in minimising road investment based on road repairs, the costs associated with building roads that harvest water and manage floods providing a cheaper alternative to building road bodies with heavy new design specifications to deal with the expected impact of rain storms and other effects of climate change and having a boost on livelihoods for the local communities-fostering inclusive growth.

Since 2017, the county has put 627 Kilometres of roads under the ‘Green Roads for water’ with the sub-counties of Mbooni, Makueni and Kibwezi East leading with 156km, 124, and 98 Kms respectively.