This archive report was first published on 11 January 2020.
On the outskirts of the Chalbi desert, a remarkable story of resilience and innovation has unfolded. In Marsabit County, a group of farmers has successfully grown and supplied fodder to hundreds of pastoralist families, beating the odds of drought and poverty.
According to Godana Sora, chairman of the Kalacha Irrigation Scheme, the idea of growing fodder was born in 1984. Initially, the farmers began with a modest 20 acres of land, but the scheme has since expanded to occupy over 200 acres.
The Kalacha Irrigation Scheme, located in Maikona, North Horr Sub-County, has been a game-changer for livestock farming in Marsabit. The scheme has directly benefited 250 households and another 1,250 families indirectly, with the farmers harvesting 1,800 bales of hay in 2018 and selling 1,300 at Sh500 each.
However, the journey to success was not without its challenges. The farmers initially tried their hand at mixed farming but failed due to the menace of pests and wild animals. It was only when they decided to grow fodder that they began to see a change in their fortunes.
"Monkeys, baboons, and other wild animals kept destroying the crops so we took the decision to begin producing fodder instead," Sora told the Seeds Of Gold.
The scheme uses lined canals and a pipeline system to irrigate the grass, with the farmers growing a variety of grasses including Kikuyu, rhodes, star, meadow, buffalo, and multipurpose leucaena and moringa trees.
Despite the success of the Kalacha Irrigation Scheme, the farmers face several challenges, including a poor market for commercial livestock feed during rainy seasons, lack of appropriate grass harvesting tools, and lack of marketing channels.
However, the project has been supported by the government and the African Development Bank (AfDB) under the Drought Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods Programme (DRSLP) at Sh76.3 million. The funding has enabled the scheme to be transformed into a model small-scale community-run irrigation programme.
"We reorganised the scheme and set up a 15-member sub-committee that oversees water distribution. This has made it easier to manage the scheme. The farmers are already selling fodder and making a profit," said Charles Muturi, DRSLP coordinator.
Ms Adho Sharamo, a member of the irrigation scheme, expressed excitement about the rehabilitation, saying it has "tremendously transformed our lives socially and economically".
"Since we began growing fodder, poverty has reduced significantly in this area. Group members want to diversify from pasture production and reintroduce high-value crops like Irish potatoes, sukuma wiki, spinach, carrots, and cabbages," Sharamo said.
