Growers’ inability to get cash blamed for thousands of acres lying fallow

The National Irrigation Board (NIB) has put 21,170 hectares in seven of its public national irrigation schemes under production since its inception 49 years ago. More than 14,000 hectares, however, remain underutilised.

A total of 161,840 hectares of land is under irrigation in Kenya, most of it through furrows on private farms in places like West Pokot, Marakwet and Turkana, according to 2013 records provided by NIB.

Some 82,770 of these hectares fall under the smallholder category while 57,900 are under the privately ran category.

Apart from Mwea Irrigation Scheme, which uses all 30,050 acres of gazetted land, six other public schemes —  Perkerra, Hola, Ahero, West Kano, Bunyala and Bura — are yet to fully utilise the land allocated to them.

“All the seven schemes are operational. However, some may not be at maximum capacity due to various challenges, among them financial constraints, given that irrigation is a very expensive venture,” Daniel Nzonzo, a communication officer at NIB said.

Managers from the seven irrigation schemes say farmers are often unable to access funds  to buy inputs cheaply and on time. They also lack water during the dry spells.

Under the country’s Vision 2030 programme, Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (Asal) irrigation projects have an ultimate general target of increasing arable land by 30 per cent by increasing the area of land under irrigation to between 600,000 and 1.2 million hectares.

Vision 2030 projections aside, the Economic Stimulus Programme introduced in 2008  has not achieved much in the irrigation sector, according to testimonies of some scheme managers at NIB.

Apart from the seven schemes, NIB is also spearheading the implementation of Galana-Kulalu Food Security Project in Tana-River and Kilifi counties under its Expanded National Irrigation Programme (Enip).

Innocent Ariemba, the NIB manager in charge of the Mwea Irrigation Scheme, says 20,000 acres out of the 30,350 acres of land gazetted under the scheme are utilised for rice farming, while the remaining 10,000 are meant for villages, schools and other facilities.

“Apart from the 30,350 acres, we have 5,000 acres under outgrowers referred to as jua kali. This season, we harvested 90,000 tonnes of rice,” Ariemba said.

The challenges faced at Mwea include marketing problems among contracted farmers due to saturated production at harvest time, and low water supply during dry periods.

“There are many financial institutions offering credit to farmers but the main problem is the high interest charged on loans, which makes it hard for farmers to break even,” adds Ariemba.

At Ahero and West Kano, the NIB manager in charge of the two schemes, Charles Wanjala, says most of  the 576 contracted farmers in Ahero and   600 contracted farmers in Kano lack funds.

Increased conflict

Only 60 per cent of the 2,168 acres are farmed in Ahero, while in West Kano, only 40 per cent of the 2,200 acres of gazetted land has been cultivated.

Perkerra irrigation scheme manager George Omondi says the scheme covers 2,350 hectares, but only 800 hectares are cultivated.

“To stabilise farming in the Perkerra Irrigation Scheme, the issue of inadequate irrigation water has to be addressed. The constant meandering of the river just below Marigat Bridge has eroded the riverbank, threatening the Perkerra Scheme intake works and the fields,” he says.

Omondi adds that the erratic climatic conditions in and around the scheme has increased conflicts between farmers and pastoralists, and this has led to high operation and maintenance costs, due to rampant canal destruction by livestock.

Bunyala scheme manager Edwin Manyonge says that while all the 534 acres within the scheme are in use, only 532 acres in the outgrowers area are utilised, leaving 700 fallow.

“NIB only ensures maintenance and water supply, sometimes offering capacity building to farmers, but the management of the farms is done by the farmers themselves,” Manyonge said.

He says access to capital for  600 outgrowers and 253 farmers within the scheme remains a problem.

“We have enough water all year round, but regular power blackouts are a concern,” adds Manyonge.

In the Tana Irrigation Scheme started in 1953 with 4,800 hectares of gazetted land,  limited technical know-how and financial resources is a problem. This is compounded by lack of adequate extension services, poor soils, lack of markets, poor prices and high costs of running the pumped system.

The scheme was dormant for close to 20 years from 1989 to 2009. The current area under irrigation stands at about 1,900 hectares, with 700 farming households settled in six villages.

The Bura Irrigation Scheme, on the other hand, has a tenant population of 2,245 farmers settled in ten villages. Each farmer was allocated 1.25 hectares for main crops and 0.05 ha for a vegetable garden.

The challenges facing Bura Irrigation Scheme include wildlife, livestock/crop conflicts, susceptibility to flooding, lack of adequate storage facilities for farmers’ produce and the inability of farmers to readily get loans  to buy  inputs cheaply and on time.

The NIB management says that to address food insecurity and turn Kenya into a net exporter of agricultural produce, irrigation modernisation and putting more land under production is critical.

NIB says it has adopted irrigation technologies geared towards increasing water use efficiency and optimising production through precision farming.

Since the inception of  the Expanded National Irrigation Programme in 2011, NIB says the programme has led to the irrigation of an additional 67,559 acres.

To date, NIB   has established 169 projects countrywide and installed 521 greenhouses for farmers and institutions.

It also conducts operational research in stations such as the Mwea Irrigation Agricutural and Development Centre, Ahero Irrigation Research Centre, Hola Irrigation Research Station and Bura Irrigation Reseach Station.