Embu farmers record bumper harvest of crops grown under small-scale irrigation

 As drought ravaged many parts of the country towards the end of February, a section of farmers from the semi-arid Mbeere area of Embu County were reaping big after a bumper harvest of crops grown under irrigation.
The over 750 farmers who are members of a community water project in Kiburu area of Ciangera sub-location, Mbeere North are currently harvesting tomatoes, water melons, maize, kales and other horticultural products.
They sell their products at a premium due to high demand as similar crops from other  farmers who practised rain fed agriculture dried up due to drought.
When we toured the sublocation before the ongoing rains pounded, most of the vegetation in the area had dried up due to the prolonged, scorching sun.
But the homes supplied with irrigation water from Green Paradise project stood out with evergreen and alluring plots of various crops at various stages of maturity.
A land belonging to the project chairman Joseph Nyaga radiated in inviting green, teeming with tomatoes, water melons, maize and sukuma wiki crop.
It was the same case for his neighbour Smoda Wanjue, a mother of seven, who in addition has planted pumpkins and legumes that ends up in her kitchen and earns her income.
According to Nyaga, the project which started in 2015 has seen the alleviation of perennial hunger brought by recurrent droughts in the area.
“The project has transformed our lives from when we relied on relief food from the government every time rains failed to now when we are feeding people in other areas. We well our produce to traders from Nairobi, Meru and Nyeri among other areas,” he said.
With the help of a donation of pipes from Upper Tana Natural Resources Management Project (UTaNRMP), Nyaga said that they have been able to tap water from River Thuci, and channel it downstream to their farms, a distance of 11 kilometres.
The water was later distributed to more than 750 farmers who are spread at a distance of 12 square kilometres where each farmer is supposed to irrigate their farms not exceeding 1 acre of land.
Two other projects: Kangai SkyLimit and Kiambindu that have their intakes in River Thuci bring to total 1,820 households in semi-arid areas benefiting from the irrigation water, according to UTaNRMP water resources coordinator, Francis Koome.
Using the irrigation water, Nyaga said that the farmers have been able to improve their livelihoods by growing crops of their choice most of which is used for their consumption and the rest is sold in various markets.
Nancy Kathia, another farmer, said mothers have benefitted most through the project since they used to travel long distances to Embu, Meru and Kitui to sell baskets (kiondo) in exchange for maize and beans to feed their children.
“The project has also boosted the economy of people who are not members of the organisation since they earn a living from working in the farms,” she said.
As of last week, the farmers were facing the challenge of diminishing water levels at the river, which was reducing their production as there is little water for irrigation was rationed.
The project manager Hesbon Njagi attributed the dwindling water levels to climate change, saying that they can double or triple their production if the government can help build a dam in the area for water storage.
Njagi said over-reliance on rain-fed agriculture was the main factor affecting food production in the country due to climate change, hence called for robust water harvesting as a redress.