A section of Garissa farmers have benefitted from a series of trainings and donations of farm equipment from the Kenya Red Cross Society in preparation for this year’s planting season and to take precautions in case of flooding which has been recurring in the county.
Most farmers in Garissa whose farms are along the River Tana have been counting losses occasioned by floods every rainy season and have been calling on the government to come up with a permanent solution to cushion them from such calamities.
Among the donated items are wheelbarrows, spades, jembes, and sand sacks.
The Kenya Red Cross society in Garissa has come up with an ambitious plan to plant bamboo seedlings along the River Tana, which they believe, with time as they grow, will hold the riverbanks firm and stop river expansion while reducing floods at the same time.
The society’s Regional Chairperson, Abdinoor Hussein, said that they are also providing at least 10,000 sand sacks, which will be used as gabions against soil erosion in the farms.
“We are targeting three farms where we have about 300 farmers. We have done training for the farmers and helped them install solar power for their farm pumps to cut on fuel costs. We have also given them the floating pumps, which will not be affected by the floods,” Hussein said.
“We are also doing a long-term programme, which involves planting over bamboo seedlings on the river banks to prevent the river from expanding further into the farms and at the same time prevent soil erosion along the river,” he added.
Garissa Farmers Network Chairperson Abdirahim Farah called on the national and county governments to join in and bring more intervention measures to the area farmers so that they can produce food locally and improve their livelihoods.
By Erick Kyalo