By Joyce Okuta and Bob Aston
Exchange visits, which are also
called study tours, have been used for a long time as a way of sharing
knowledge between farmers. They have been proven to lead to mutual knowledge
increase, due to practical demonstrations and they have also enabled farmers to
become more aware of their own skills and capacities.
In order to increase access to
knowledge and information amongst farmers in Matwiku area of Githiga Ward,
Laikipia County, the Arid Lands Information
Network (ALIN) organized for an exchange visit for three (3) members of
Matwiku Horticulture Growers S.H.G on March 13, 2015 to travel to Ilchamus Ward
of Marigat Sub County to witness the launch of Nolororo Horticulture Project,
which was also an open day to showcase climate smart agriculture and offer
farmers an opportunity to interact with county leaders.
ALIN in partnership with Act
Change Transform (Act!), with financial support from Department for International
Development (DFID)
and Swedish International Development
Cooperation (SIDA)
is implementing a climate smart agriculture project in Baringo, Laikipia and
Kajiado counties with the aim of strengthening communities’ resilience to impacts
of climate change while conserving natural resources.
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| Farmers being shown the Nolororo Horticulture Farm |
The project supported Nolororo women
group to establish a drip irrigation system for horticultural production. The
group members have been taught about plant protection, harvesting, value
addition and marketing. They are now using drip irrigation technology to
produce nutritious food.
The objectives of the exchange visit
included; to expose the farmers from Matwiku Horticulture Growers Self help
group to the activities done by Nolororo women group, to allow the farmers to
exchange experiences and plan for the future use of the practices they observe
and to assist farmers to gain confidence with what they are doing in the
project so that they can explain and teach others.
Mr. Peter Gicheru, Secretary Matwiku
Horticulture Growers self help group noted that the exchange visit had proved
to be an enriching experience as he had managed to learn a lot from Nolororo
women group.
“The opportunity that ALIN provided
for us has enabled us to learn better farming methods and crops that we can
cultivate in our own project. I realized that farmers in Ilchamus ward are
lucky as the climatic condition is ideal for water melon and tomatoes and they
take a shorter duration to mature unlike Matwiku,” said Mr. Gicheru.
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| Farmers being shown the project source of water |
Gicheru said that he is now planning
to start farming in Ilchamus ward as cost of production is slightly lower there
compared to Matwiku and the returns are also better. He added that
horticultural crops can do well using drip irrigation and encouraged farmers to
adopt the technology to increase their income.
The Nolororo women group activities
focus on practicing Climate Smart Agriculture. This is agriculture aimed at
reducing emissions at the farm level, conserving natural resources like soils
and water while increasing nutritious food production at household level at the
same time increasing family incomes.
On her part, Mrs. Lucy Mumbi a member
of Matwiku Horticulture Growers self help group shared farming experiences with
members of Nolororo women group. She noted that unlike Nolororo women group her
group is composed of more men than women.
“Human-wildlife conflict is common in
Matwiku area and we rely on men to offer security during such times. Nolororo
women group is lucky since there is a steady supply of water from river molo,”
said Mrs. Mumbi.
She thanked ALIN for the opportunity
to visit the group and felt motivated to work hard and be more open minded when
it comes to new technologies and farming methods.
ALIN has been involved in knowledge
sharing for more than 22 years now, using various platforms that include the
use of video documentations, exchange visits, open learning days and articles
aimed at farmers and pastoralists. These experiences have helped farmers to
access knowledge and information, which have helped to empower many farmers in
arid areas.
