Hundreds of farmers in Karachuonyo Constituency can now breathe a sigh of relief after an initiative began to turn an idle swamp into a rice farm.
Ondago Swamp, one of the largest swamps in Homa Bay County, has been idle since time immemorial.
Residents say they had never seen any agricultural activity undertaken in the swamp.
The swamp located in Central Karachuonyo ward had been a home of frogs which croak every morning and evening. Various reptiles, like snakes, alongside other wild animals, have also been domiciled in the swamp.
Occasionally, during rainy seasons, flamingoes could occupy the area for about one month, once or twice a year.
The only little benefit residents could get from the swamp is that it could serve as a grazing field for a few with cattle.
The swamp is located on more than 400 acres of land. None of the residents can tell when crop production was carried out on the land.
George Aoko, a 68-year-old resident, said he has never seen anybody producing crops on any piece of land within Ondago Swamp.
Aoko said the swamp has been lying idle and nobody has cultivated any crop on the land.
“I am 68 years old, but I have never seen anybody growing a crop in Ondago Swamp,” Aoko said.
He said the swamp used to help them as a source of grass for thatching houses in the 1990s. However, residents had stopped constructing grass-thatched houses, leaving the swamp valueless.
“In short, the swamp has been of no economic value to us,” Aoko said.
But through the intervention of the Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA) and an organisation dubbed Greentec, Ondago swamp is being turned into a rice farm.
Three months, LBDA and Greentec empowered local farmers to grow rice in more than 200-acre piece of land.
It has now been established that Ondago Swamp has great potential for growing rice. This became evident after the rice that was planted in the area yielded highly.
The LBDA Managing Director, Wycliffe Ochiaga, launched the harvesting of the rice on Tuesday.
“The rice we planted in 200 acres of land at Ondago Swamp has proven that the swamp is so fertile that it can produce several tons of rice. This has been proven by the few acres we have just harvested,” Ochiaga said.
Ochiaga said they started rice production in the area to boost food security. He said they had supported farmers who are growing rice in over 5000 acres through the Kimira Oluch Smallholder Farm Improvement Project (KOSFIP), an irrigation project in the area.
He said their main objective is to ensure residents improve their lives.
“We are supporting farmers in this project to enable them to have food on their tables,” Ochiaga said.
Greentec Operations Manager Hellen Orwa said her organisation is putting conducive environment for more farmers to venture into crop production in the area.
“We realised many farmers are ready to grow crops but they lack the capacity. We are supporting them in various ways to give them the ability to propagate rice,” Orwa said.
Orwa said their objective is to eradicate poverty with agriculture in the area.
“We started a project to improve food security in this area, besides allowing farmers to make money,” Orwa said.
Homa Bay CECM for Agriculture Joash Aloo promised to support the farmers with an additional tractor for tilling their farms.
“I urge the farmers to form groups so that we can give them one tractor for land mechanisation in rice production,” Dr Aloo said.
Residents welcomed the project.
“This project is going to be a game changer in our lives. Our idle land can now generate meaningful income,” said James Tindi, a farmer.
