Farmers from the six villages of Mbuju, Kisima, Manyangalo, Ethi, Ngarendare and Subuiga that surround the Ngarendare forest in Meru County are now reaping huge benefits from a project that provided dam liners for establishment of water pans to enable the beneficiaries embark on horticultural farming to generate income, and thus steer away from invading the forest to cut down trees for charcoal burning.
According to Maurice Mutwiri, an Agricultural Extension Officer for the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) who implemented the project over a year ago courtesy of funding from the Innocent Foundation, the project that ensured establishment of water pans and water storage tanks in at least 120 households across the six villages has brought immense nutritional and financial benefits to the beneficiaries, while also boosting conservation efforts by ensuring that villagers have a steady alternative source of income, and therefore avoid cutting down trees for charcoal burning like they used to a few years ago.
Abdi Mohamed, a farmer in Manyangalo village who cultivates onions, tomatoes, potatoes and beans said that prior to establishment of a water pan in his farm courtesy of the NRT Project, he could only use tap water which was very limited to do overhead irrigation on a half-acre farm, a practice that consumed a lot of his time changing positions of sprinklers day and night, and even brought health challenges due to cold.
Courtesy of the water pan, he has now extended his farm to four acres, and the watering job was made easier through drip irrigation, where he only has to open valves and the water trickles down to the crops through pipes.
He noted that through the support, the beneficiaries have now more than tripled their earlier harvest volumes from a year ago, boosting food security hence improved nutrition for their children, and ensuring that they cater for school fees and other domestic obligations courtesy of proceeds from sale of the horticultural produce.
Margaret Wangui, a farmer in Ngarendare village noted that she started farming four years ago albeit with serious water shortage challenges, where she used jerricans to water crops in her quarter acre farm, an exercise that was very tiresome and also brought health challenges due to cold.
Courtesy of the water pan that was established in her farm a year ago through the project by NRT and the Innocent foundation, she now has plenty of water for both farming and other domestic chores.
According to Wangui, the impact brought about by presence of the water pan in her farm is immense, as it has enabled her extend the farmland to one and half acres, and made it easier to water the crops through piping rather than carrying jerricans like she used to do before.
She noted that the volume of onions harvest from her farm has risen to over three tonnes per harvest, up from 500-700 kgs earlier. Wangui has also more than tripled her earnings from the sale of tomatoes from 15,000 – 20,000 to over 60,000 currently per harvest.
She noted that she now doesn’t buy food stuffs from the local market, her children consume healthier foods from her own farm while income has also been boosted multiple times, enabling her to meet costs of educating her kids with relative ease. Wangui also receives help from her kids at a time like now when schools are closed, enabling her to impart some Agricultural farming knowledge on them in the process.
Mutwiri noted that the cost of purchasing a single unit of dam liners and its installation to construct a water pan costed the project implementers an average of Kshs 100,000, but noted that the positive impact brought about by the project both in its intended forest conservation effort and supporting livelihoods of the local communities was immense.
He encouraged members of public to invest in rain water harvesting especially now that rains are pounding in most parts of the country, so that they use the water during dry seasons that usually follow.
The water pans collect storm water from rains, providing adequate storage that enables the farmers to proceed with farming activities even when rains subside.
The beneficiaries hailed the project as immensely transformative to their lives, and called for its expansion to reach out to others who are yet to benefit from it.
