By Ngumbao Kithi
Farmers at the Coast have been asked to prepare land ahead of the long rains.
The Government will support their efforts by providing tractors for tilling.
Coast Director of Agriculture Phoebe Odhiambo said the Government had made available tractors to plough land.
"We are doing this campaign jointly with the Provincial Administration… We do not want them (farmers) to be caught off guard. We hope it will eventually rain so they can plant," Odhiambo said.
She said Government, private sector and Constituency Development Fund committees would provide the tractors.
Mrs Odhiambo said programmes to ensure food security, including planting of drought resistant crops like cassava, millet and pulses had been launched in the province.
Two weeks ago, the Meteorological Department said the country should prepare to receive less than usual rainfall.
The only parts expected to receive heavy downpours are the Lake Victoria basin, Western highlands, North Western Kenya and the South Coast.
The weatherman predicted that rainfall would be depressed in the better part of the country during the peak month of April.
The areas to be most affected by this shortfall are North Eastern, Central, Nairobi and Northern parts of Eastern Province.