Our 'Garden of Eden' is thanks to this pump

Agro Kenya founder Suleiman Kweyu explains how Spiral floating pump woks at Mumias East on June 14, 2018. [Photo: Benjamin Sakwa/ Standard]

Two years ago, Jared Ateya, a farmer in Mumias contemplated quitting farming due to poor rains that almost turned his once productive land barren.

Ateya didn’t only struggle to feed his family as farming was his first source of income, but he risked his children being chased away from school as farming was no longer paying.

Ateya’s story is, however different now, thanks to a spiral floater pump that has restored his farm’s lost glory.

He is among close to 300 farmers at Lubinu, in Mumias East Constituency using the pumps to water their farms and don’t have to depend on rains anymore.

The spiral floater pump does not require electricity to operate. It thrives on kinetic energy.

“This has been the best thing to ever happen to me in my farming career; two years ago, even feeding my own family was a hassle, now I produce enough for sale as I don’t have to rely on rains. I use the pump during dry seasons or when rains aren’t sufficient,” he said.

Ateya says the pump has also enabled him to venture into vegetable farming which is a quick source of income. “I secured a tender from a nearby school to supply vegetables, if I didn’t have this pump, I could have lost this job,” he adds.

The project has largely benefited farmers living near rivers.

Ms Wilfrida Wanga, a vegetable farmer also says her life changed for the better after she started using the pump as she has constant produce to meet the high demand especially in school.

“I have been saving money from the proceeds I get and I have bought a five-acre piece of land where I want to grow vegetables for export. The pump is cost effective and one pump can serve up to ten farmers,” said Wanga.

The spiral floater pumps were introduced to the farmers by Agro-Kenya, in partnership with Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences and Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences in Germany.

Engineering students at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) are set to be trained by the Germany based institutions on how to fabricate the pumps using locally available materials in efforts to make them accessible to more farmers.

Agro-Kenya Managing Director, Mr Suleiman Kweyu said they are targeting small scale farmers around River Nzoia, Yala, Lwakhakha, Khalaba, Malakisi and Sio who are worst-hit by drought.

“We are already training farmers on the new and cost-effective irrigation technology, already over 5,000 farmers have come on board,” said Kweyu. The pump has two outlets and has the ability to fill a 15,000 litre tank within five hours. One pump serves ten farmers at a go.