Decades ago, Weiwei division in West Pokot County, just like the rest of the volatile Kerio Valley, was a no-go zone.
Armed bandits roamed the region killing and maiming with abandon, and making the otherwise fertile soils uninhabited.
Cattle rustling and banditry was the order of the day as neighbouring communities attacked each other.
But things have changed for the better after locals traded guns for jembes, embracing farming. The once desolate fields are now lush green, filled with an assortment of food crops for subsistence and commercial purposes.
The former battle field is now Weiwei Irrigation Scheme, which covers Korellach, Sangat, Ptokou and Takar sub-locations with an approximate population of over 20,000 people.
The scheme hosts maize, millet, sorghum, sun flower, green grams, watermelons, paw paws, mangoes and fodder crops. Some of the crops are sold to seed producing companies like Kenya Seed, Western Seed and East Africa Seed Company.
“We are expecting to harvest maize in about two months. Crop farming is thriving because of water from the Weiwei Irrigation Scheme. This is the second planting season. We sold the harvest from the first season in September to Kenya Seed Company,” says Ms Helen Chebokinor, one of the farmers.
According to her, they grow seed maize which fetches better prices, with a kilo retailing at Sh45, translating to Sh4,050 for a 90kg bag compared to food maize that is currently selling at Sh2, 700 per 90kg bag.
“We have planted three acres and expect to get 45 bags in February next year when we harvest. This is the source of most of the income for my family which we use to pay school fees, purchase food and even livestock,” said the mother of eight who relocated from Masol.
Ms Chebokinor said they are contracted by specific seed companies which do most of the monitoring of the crop until harvesting to get preferred hybrid species in the first season, but sell harvest from the second.
Mr Daniel Lokwaki, a moran turned farmer, reminisces how the area three decades ago was a battlefield.
“This land was a battlefield for cattle rustlers and it is by luck I escaped the attacks with my life but people migrated to other safer areas. Life was hard and poverty and hunger was the order of the day. But when furrow irrigation was initiated by Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA), the community began planting sorghum and millet for food and sale through ancient barter trade,” he recalled.
He said crop farming became a source of livelihood besides livestock rearing.
“Everyone is optimistic of improved economic growth with the implementation of the third phase of the scheme. More households are going to get farms thus increased production, job opportunities and business,” observed Mr Lokwaki, who grows green grams.
The Italian government first funded the project in 1986 and put 175 acres under irrigation before pumping in another Sh435 million grant to expand the project to the current 562 acres directly benefiting 225 households.
“Every household gets 2.5 acres and we believe the third phase that will see an additional 812 acres covered r,” he noted.
KVDA managing director Sammy Naporos hailed the project as a game-changer in the region, noting it is the foundation of peaceful co-existence, food security, increased literacy levels and a vibrant economy.
“In some seasons farmers rake in up to Sh50 million income from the sale of the crops and if the same is replicated across the Kerio Valley, the menace of cattle rustling will be greatly reduced or wiped out. As KVDA, we offer technical support to farmers on crop farming besides growing crops on our 70-acre farm which also act as a demonstration plot,” he notes.
He said upon the completion of Sh1.1 billion phase three project, over 30,000 households would benefit.
“Our main goal, is to improve household incomes in Kerio Valley and the nutrition of the people thus bringing cohesion among the different communities to help in opening up the region for investment,” he said. BY DAILY NATION