County Government of Laikipia

The County Government of Laikipia has continued availing water to facilitate crop and fodder growth in the county which will increase the economic standards of Laikipians. Already, there are practical cases going on which prove that what is being promised is being delivered.

Over 2000 beneficiaries in Laikipia are set to reap the gains of technology-driven farming models to multiply their production capacities in areas around the Kamuna Water Project in Segera Ward, Laikipia North.

The flagship project by the Department of Agriculture through the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project(KSCAP) targets three areas in Laikipia North-Kariunga, Mutirithia, and Naibor - from which the project derives the name Kamuna.

The government has desilted Kariunfa Dam and constructed a Naibor water pan to sustain household use, crop farming, and livestock use. This work has extended to the development of a water reticulation network that will avail water from three community boreholes to dozens of farms and homesteads in the area.

The main aim of the project is to support smallholder farmers to adopt integrated climate-smart Technology, Innovation, and Management Practices (TIMPs). The project also supports investments through a community-driven development approach in smallholder agro-pastoral production systems and in extensive pastoral production systems.

The project has brought farms under irrigation all year round, ensuring consistency in food production. Plans to distribute drip kits to aid in the irrigation of horticultural crops are in the pipeline, with the step set to boost sustainable water use.

Over 300 households are currently benefitting from the almost complete project, for the first time shielding drought-prone Laikipia North from the adverse effects of rampant water shortages. This is a relief to small-scale farmers who now have water for use at home, for livestock, and for irrigation.

The ongoing water distribution effort is already raising land value, as farmers from near and farm warm up to the prospects of profitable farming.

The smart farming project also targets to revamp pasture and fodder production to revolutionalize dairy farming enabling the increase of milk production from the current five liters per cow per day to 15 liters. Increasing food and fodder is among the promises H.E. Governor Ndiritu Muriithi has promised to deliver.

Other ways that will increase water for production include constructing 231 water pans/dams, 130 boreholes, and five mega dams.