The other side of Turkana where residents have plenty of food

Farmers at Katilu Irrigation Scheme in Lokichar sub-county of Turkana harvesting fruits and vegetables from the model farm.. Despite being pastoralists, a section of theTurkana community is now using Turkwel river to irrigate land for maize, fruit and vegetable farming to enrich their diet and also earn money by selling some. This has reduced hunger in the region.[Photo taken on 17/11/2016 By Patrick Alushula]

The scorching sun was already overhead by the time the 170 kilometre morning journey from Lodwar town to Katilu in Turkana County was over. And the car broke down three times.

We had to defy the three century-old badly worn out road; sometimes disappearing completely or just leaving thickness of up to just two footsteps of a middle-aged Turkana man.

The driver had to withstand the poor visibility caused by rising dust. The vast land last tasted raindrops five months ago; but it was not even enough to silence the rebellious dust.

But once past Lokichar, the ‘miracle piece of land’ that is sitting on oil in a region that has for centuries been synonymous with hunger, banditry, cattle rustling and drought, another land to marvel unfolds.

Katilu Irrigation Scheme that extends from Turkwel River becomes visible. The famous ‘mathenge’ plant, once introduced in 1984 to stop the desert from spreading, has braved the everyday strong sun. This is where the untold story of the county, thought of as laid-back, begins to be unpacked. But once out of the vehicle, one would imagine the driver missed the road.

Charcoal bags that could almost fill a lorry, the flowing water diverted from Turkwel River, the acres of maize, the healthy pawpaw trees, sukumawiki and other vegetables become visible. All this, done by the locals, without denouncing their love for cows and goats.

Here, there are people, mostly women, clad in elaborate beaded traditional necklaces but busy working on the farm. Just a few metres away, there are children looking after herds of cattle and young girls looking for firewood.

In 2002, the then Water Minster Martha Karua visited the area and opened 8.5 kilometre canal to start diverting water from Turkwel River into 700 acres of land. The project was the brainchild of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in 1970 but halted and crops dried up by early 2000s.

However, this was later picked up by National Irrigation Board (NIB), who revived the original acreage but also expanded it to 1,500 acres. “Poor engineering at water intake sites can easily kill irrigation projects. If the canal is not well done, the silt load from the river can block the flow of water to the crops,” explains Eng Daniel Waweru, the NIB officer in charge of the scheme.

Since 2011, when his team of six permanent employees and 15 casuals took charge, the community has diversified into agribusiness. With the help of fallow irrigation, the community, famous for pastoralism, is now into crop farming. According to Eng Waweru, his team has done enough trials and managed to settle on two varieties of maize seeds from Kenya Seeds Company.

Through NIB in collaboration with local community leaders and county government, the land has been sub-divided into half-acre pieces with 1,680 farmers from different homesteads owning the pieces. “We have a committee of about 33 people and every block has three leaders to ensure good coordination. More people are now willing to sell some animals and join this scheme,” said Milton Loito, a resident who chairs the scheme.

Cattle rustling

About 4,000 farmers, the board told Business Beat, have made applications to the committee to be considered when NIB finally expands the area under irrigation to 2,200 acres. Many locals told said the project has helped them to enrich their diet. Women, some above 50 years, brave the temperatures that range between 39 and 45 degrees Celsius to keep hunger at bay.

“I lost all animals to rustlers in 1984. I picked up again but I lost some again in 1988. After 2011 drought, I decided to try this farming. At least people don’t steal crops,” says 67 year old woman Napulo Echakan. She owns half an acre and can only speak in local language. However, Philip Ebongong, the chairman of the block on which Ms Echakan’s farm sits helps in translation.

Just across the river, about 20 kilometres should get one to Pokot. Ebongong says that where the farm sits used to be bushy and was promoting cattle rustling. But it is not very common now. According to Mr Ebongong, the entire block of about four acres will yield about 25 bags packaged in 50 kilogram bags. He regrets that the community once abandoned farming some 30 years ago after it was launched by FAO.

In the evening, they go home with grass from the bank of the river as well as that from the maize plantations to feed their goats. To them, nothing goes to waste now.

Just a few metres from the acres under maize, is a model farm sitting on about an acre of land. It would require another day to explore, we are told. Here, the variety of crops compares only to food belt zones in the country. Only that this is on small scale. It has bananas, tomatoes, carrots, papaws, spinach, cowpeas and butternut among other plants. This, Michael Silale, a local farmer who also works with NIB, says that it points to a possibility that nearly everything can grow in this side of Turkana.

“We only knew of pastoralism but then came maize. We have now added fruits and vegetables that we initially thought were just wild plants. We can sell this, educate children and keep hunger away,” he reckons. From this model farm, NIB advises farmers on which fertilisers to use and the varieties of maize to plant. Each day, about 10 farmers come seeking for information.

Despite being a model farm, the farmers are able to harvest the fruits and vegetables and sell to Lodwar and Lokichar at least twice a week. NIB supports them with subsidized transportation to boost production. According to Eng Waweru plans are already underway to introduce it on large scale through contract farming to boost market for their produce.

“The town needs fruits especially with hotels coming up. The current demand is satisfied by Eldoret, Kitale and Nakuru. We want to dedicate 25 acres as an orchard for farmers,” says Waweru. About 60 kilometres from Katilu, travelling almost parallel with Turkwel River, the story of hope unfolds again. This is in Lojokobwo.

We meet Apus Epakan. She is in her 50s and has been nicknamed ‘engineer’ because of her confidence in farm activities. Among the crowd that is in the maize field, she awes everyone with her accent of Kiswahili. “In a choice between maize farming and keeping animals, I pick maize. I can now get food to eat and sell some to treat children. The remains from harvesting, I take to my goat,” she told Business Beat.

More harvest

Here, more than 750 farmers have benefited. According to Yohana Ekidor, who serves as secretary for Lojokobwo Irrigation Scheme, the project yielded 150 bags (7,500 kilograms) in 2014. This was when just 200 farmers planted maize. However, with more farmers coming on board in 2015, they got 10,000 bags. In the current harvest, he is projecting 300 bags on the 400 acres under maize now.

“Initially, this was just bush filled with animals. It was even reported we were eating dogs but not anymore. We want to supply to our neighbours,” said Mr Ekidor. Through NIB, farmers were helped to construct a 2.8 kilometre canal at a cost of Sh9.1 million. The land was also fenced to keep off animals.

According to David Tanui, the NIB Irrigation officer in charge of the scheme, up to 3,000 acres lie downstream and upstream of Turkwel River and the owners are willing enroll into irrigation too.