• More land and new crops will be added to increase farmers’ income and food security.
Image: MAURICE
Image: MAURICE ALAL
The dilapidated Ahero Irrigation Scheme in Kisumu will be revamped and farmers given technical support to increase rice production.
The National Irrigation Authority secured Sh3 billion from the Japan International Cooperation Agency for the project.
Western schemes manager Ken Ouma said a team from JICA were on site, carrying out a feasibility study and technical survey before the project begins.
The feasibility study to be completed in 2025 to improve flood control and increase food security in line with the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
The project will start ones the feasibility study is done and the project is approved.
It will be the first major rehabilitation since it was established in 1969.
“The schemes’ irrigation infrastructure has been damaged by perennial flooding that has undermined operations over the years. We expect the rehabilitation will address the menace,” Ouma said.
The manager said the authority was optimistic over the partnership with JICA, noting the rehabilitation will redress the inefficiencies that inhibit operations.
Ouma said Ahero and West Kano irrigation schemes have huge potential in rice production which has been hindered by insufficient resources over the years.
He said NIA plans to expand land under irrigation in Kisumu to increase rice production through proper infrastructure.
Ouma recently told the Parliamentary Committee on Blue Economy, Irrigation, Water, and Sanitation that NIA was banking on the completion of the Sh19.8 billion Koru-Soin irrigation dam to add 10,900 more hectares.
Completion of the dam will enable farmers to earn about Sh6 billion from rice from the scheme annually.
Currently, Ouma said, the scheme has 10,810 acres under rice production, with more than 30,000 farmers producing 22,000 metric tonnes of rice annually.
The scheme extracts water from the River Nyando through a pump-fed irrigation system, which is then distributed to the farms through canals.
The system will change from a pump-fed setup to a gravity-fed irrigation system to control flooding when River Nyando breaks its banks.
Ouma said “huge” electricity bills were a major challenge hampering operations. Farmers pay Sh3,100 per acre per season, translating to Sh7.2 million, which is inadequate to pay the bill apart from footing other operation costs at the scheme.
NIA has also partnered with the government of Hungary, which has expressed interest in building a solar power station at the scheme
He said the project will provide a hybrid system where solar and electricity can be used interchangeably to pump water into the scheme, thus reducing the electricity bill.
Plans are underway to initiate a massive crop escalation programme to boost food security and empower farmers economically, Ouma said.
The crops being considered include soybeans, cowpeas, watermelon, maize, tomatoes and sorghum besides rice.
The agency, he said, was committed to realising food security through better farming.