NGO sets out to boost food security

By Kipchumba Kemei

Narok County

The Co-operative League, an American non-governmental organisation will spend Sh100 million to increase food production in the larger Narok and Mbeere districts in the next five years.

The NGO intends to increase production of foods like maize, beans, sorghum, peas and millet under the Cooperative Development Programme (CDP).

Speaking during a Stakeholders workshop at a Narok hotel, CDP Country Director Joyce Wafula said they would work with the Departments of Agriculture in the two districts to ensure availability of food, access and utilisation was realised during the implementation of the project that is expected to close in 2014. She said USAID will fund the programme while the organisation will avail fertiliser and other farm inputs for successful implementation of the project and the war against hunger and malnutrition.

Co-operative societies

"In the pilot project farmers will be clustered in groups of between 20 and 25 to plant the crops in their farms," she said.

In Narok North, she said the project would be implemented at Nturumeti, Nkareta, Olasiti and Siyapei and Entasekera, Nkoben, Kuto and Enerai in Narok South.

Wafula also said the organisation would work with the co-operative department in the revival and strengthening of co-operative societies in assisting farmers access markets for their produce.