When our cattle died of hunger, I took a gamble with crops

Zeinab Buba in her 1-acre onion farm at Rapsu Irrigation Scheme, Kinna Division of Garba-Tula District in Isiolo County on November 25, 2017. Last season she sold a ton of onions through middle men, earning Sh 35, 000. The largely pastoralists Borana are gradually adopting farming. (Photo: Ali Abdi|Standard).

After realising that nomadic life is costly and unsustainable, some farmers are embracing more reliable economic activities.

Zeinab Buba from a little-known village in Garba-Tula District, Isiolo County is demonstrating that with the right technology and best practice, you can grow healthy crops in an erstwhile dry area.

Having seen how unreliable keeping cattle can be, Ms Buba started crop-farming last season and today she has message for her fellow pastoralists — ‘let’s keep our livestock but where possible, practice farming’.

While her husband travelled long distances in search of pasture for the family’s remaining livestock, she chose to stay behind and tend to her crops and she has no regrets.

“I decided to take a gamble with crop farming after I saw how vulnerable cattle were in the face of drought. Lucky for me, metres away from my farm, is Bisandi River, a tributary of Tana River. I use it to irrigate my crops,” says the mother of four.

Last year, the National Irrigation Board constructed a 3.4 km canal to allow intake of water from Bisanadi River, opening up possibilities for crop-farming for locals.

On her one acre farm, Buba has grown onions, tomatoes and kales. She has already had her first harvest of onions. Though she harvested a tonne of the produce, the market was the challenge.

“Immediately I harvested and my produce was ready for the market, middlemen came calling and bought a kilogramme at Sh35. They later sold the same kilo at Sh50 in the neighbouring Maua in Meru County. I am learning how to sell my produce directly,” she says.

Nevertheless, Babu made Sh40, 000.

“From the money I got, we bought some few goats to restock those lost during the drought and paid fees for my children,’’ she says.

This season, Babu is cultivating on an acre of land, and the produce will be ready in two months.

Her neighbours are also pastoralists, and they have become crop-farmers.

Using irrigation, Dika Abdi Bale, 60, grows mangoes, lemons, pawpaw, bananas, water melon and guava on his one acre farm.

‘‘I sell my produce at Kinna market and Garba-Tula. From my profits, I can take care of my family,’’ says Mr Bale. One of the hurdles many farmers face is severe drought and invasion of their farms by wildlife from Bisanadi National Reserve and Meru National Park.

‘‘Last season, we harvested a third of the crops we planted because of the invasion by elephants and buffaloes,’’ says Mr Bale.

To ensure the farmers do not give up along the way, a number of NGOs have been working with them and offering them extension services.