The national government has rolled out an empowerment drive in Trans Nzoia County to cushion local farmers from the effects of crop failure as a result of low rainfalls, especially in high-producing regions.
Farmers in the North Rift region are also calling for a timely supply of subsidised fertilisers to help residents plant short-term crops during the expected El Nino period.
State departments are on the ground, mobilising residents for sensitisation on modern farming and distributing chicks and fruit trees to help them venture into alternative sources of livelihoods.
Livestock Production deputy director Josephant Smollo distributed 4,000-day-old chicks to several groups at Mateket in Cherangany and Sirende in the Kiminini constituency.
Accompanied by Trans Nzoia Woman Representative Lilian Siyio, he unveiled smart agriculture activities and said the empowerment programme is key to tackling food insecurity in families.
“Many families have been hit by crop failure, and the government is supporting families to be able to put food on the table,” Smollo said.
Siyio urged residents to embrace diversification to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The MP encouraged residents to adopt smart agriculture practices and farm traditional crops to tackle the impact of erratic weather patterns.
“We need to shift to smart agriculture practices and also embrace traditional crops to overcome the challenge of food insecurity posed by drought,” Siyio said.
Siyoi urged the government to provide subsidised fertilisers to support farmers targeting short-term crop farming during the El Nino rains.
Many farmers are counting losses and stressed with the inability to repay loans they took from commercial banks to facilitate their farming.
Most maize fields in the county have recorded crop failure resulting from prolonged drought, leaving hundreds of maize farmers frustrated.
Most farmers are not expecting any harvest after the dry spell frustrated their maize, with those who borrowed loans to do this season’s farming appealing to the government to intervene over their predicament.
“We are urging farmers to embrace the growing of high-value crops like coffee instead of relying on maize alone,“ Siyoi said.
Smollo said modern dairy farming was also a good alternative that will enable the farmers to fight off the effects of climate change.
