Wildlife and herders threaten Jubilee flagship irrigation project in Kilifi

KILIFI-GALANA KALALU FARM; Elephants crossing crossing river Galana in Kilifi County. [PHOTO /PHILIP MWAKIO/STANDARD]

An estimated 2,000 acres of land under maize at the Galana Kulalu Irrigation project are at risk of being destroyed by wild animals and herders from Tana River County, an official has warned.

The maize is part of 16 different crops on a 10,000-acre model farm under the Galana Kulalu Food Security Project  managed by the National Irrigation Board at the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) farm in Malindi sub-county.

Kilifi County Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Chief Warder Geoffrey Wakaba reiterated the need to urgently complete construction of the 33-kilometre fence around the ADC farm to ward off the animals.

He raised the concerns during security meeting at the ADC farm yesterday.

He said it will only take one elephant to 'discover' the farm for a whole herd to move in and destroy the entire crop. "We will be in great trouble should one single elephant discovers this crop," Wakaba stated.

The county security meeting chaired by Kilifi County Commissioner Joseph Keter herd that only 15 kilometres of the farm have been fenced, with the remaining 17 kilometres expected to be completed by the end of this month.

Animal herders from Tana River County are also said to have relocated to the Galana Ranch in search of pasture, creating panic among residents who are predominantly farmers.

The Galana Kulalu Food Security Project Model Farm sitting on 10,000 acres was started in September 2014 and is funded by the Kenyan and Israeli governments to the tune of Sh4.5 billion.

The Galana Ranch, which was acquired by the Government through the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) in 1989 provides a buffer zone between the national parks in the area, especially the Tsavo East National Park and the local communities.

BEEF RANCHING

The ADC has also then been using it for beef ranching, eco-tourism, including camping, and agricultural and biogas production development.

The model farm, according to the Resident Engineer Constantine Mwamoisi, is only 15 per cent complete and is expected to have 4,685 acres of maize and 900 acres of vegetables under irrigation upon completion in March 2016.

Mwamoisi informed the security team that three centre pivots sprayers were already in use, irrigating a total of 500 acres.

He said each centre pivot has a capacity of irrigating a radius of 160 acres. The entire model farm will have 12 centre pivots for irrigation purposes by the end of the year.

Centre-pivot irrigation (sometimes called central pivot irrigation or also called waterwheel and circle irrigation), is a method of crop irrigation in which equipment rotates around a pivot and crops are watered with sprinklers.

Meanwhile, a massive 2 billion-litre capacity dam expected to cover an area of 200,000 acres of land has already commenced while the ground water exploration exercise is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

The Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture is also expected to visit the ADC ranch where the food security project is being undertaken later this week.