Farming communities embracing climate-smart agri solutions to maximize yields in Kenya 

Across 20 counties in Kenya, farmers are using a combination of new farming technologies and practices – including solar-powered drip irrigation and rainwater harvesting – helping them to adapt and build resilience to the challenges posed by an ever more unpredictable climate. 

The effect of climate change on agricultural land in Kenya is stark. The decrease in rainfall during the two rainy seasons, coupled with an increase in temperatures, significantly decreases productivity. With many communities overly dependent on rainfed agriculture, growing maize, beans, sorghum and subsistence vegetables during the rainy seasons, farmers are experiencing repeated losses. This has very real implications on people’s health and well-being across the country, leading to food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition among other things. 

For Nairobi-based agriculture company Irri-Hub Ke Ltd, the solution lies in offering a range of smart agricultural solutions to farmers, as explains CEO and Co-Founder, Eric Onchonga: “Our mission is ‘giving life to the soil’ and we advocate for the use of drip irrigation as a viable adaptation and resilience-building strategy. We aim to bring this about by eliminating the uncertainty that surrounds crop production as a result of climate change. We offer rainwater harvesting systems in the form of lined water pans and ponds, mulching paper for reducing evaporation, greenhouses and shade houses for controlled-environment farming, solar pumps for the abstraction of water from surface and subsurface water storage structures, and drip irrigation for efficient water utilization.”

Devolving decision making is key. Irri-Hub Ke Ltd works closely with the farming communities, who run the projects, with leadership at a local level exercised through different local groups and associations. During the installation phase, local people are engaged to increase their understanding of how the irrigation technology and solar pumps work. This helps to magnify the impact of the new agricultural solutions, together with giving a sense of ownership and partnership in the project. 

Building understanding about climate change and its impact on farm productivity through sensitization work represents an important element of the project. Local groups learn how using drip kits enables them to change their cropping patterns from low-value crops to high-value horticultural crops, such as tomatoes, onions and leafy vegetables. Households sell the excess crops, thereby improving their economic situation.  

Communication between Irri-Hub Ke Ltd and individual farmers and local farm groups is ongoing, notes Onchonga: “Our team works closely – both remotely and onsite – to ensure that the households adopt the system efficiently. Through phone calls and on-site demonstrations and training, we offer technical support to farmers by advising on proper irrigation schedules and intensity to optimize crop growth with minimum water consumption. This ensures they remain invested in the project.”

The response from local people has been very positive, says Caleb Owiyo from Utoma Youth Group: “The timing for this project couldn’t have been any better. As beneficiaries of the irrigation systems, we celebrate the efficiency in irrigation of our vegetables compared with manual irrigation using cans. It is our hope that with increased yield and quality, we shall expand and decentralize to further corners of our community.”

Enabling local farmers to shift from rainfed agriculture to solar powered drip irrigation systems has had a significant impact, increasing the land’s productivity and making it possible to grow vegetables and other high value horticultural crops all year round. “Precision agriculture, through drip irrigation, has also enabled rural communities to conserve water, which is an ever-scarcer resource given the fall in water levels in local streams and rivers,” says Eric Onchonga. “The project has therefore enabled farmers to minimize the damaging effects of climate change on their fields’ productivity while also building their resilience.”

Irri-Hub Ke Ltd’s work is not without its challenges, emphasizes Eric Onchonga: “Sufficient funding is our biggest challenge. This limits our market reach and our capacity to upscale the transition from rain-fed to irrigation-based agriculture in Kenya. Logistics issues also arise, and we are sometimes compelled to work with a lean inventory and often experience delays in procuring materials for the project.”

Provision for the different agriculture projects is funded primarily by farmers, although Irri-Hub Ke Ltd has worked with multiple partners – from national and county governments to NGOs and international organizations, such as USAID, which also help with funding. This included working with national and local governments in implementing water harvesting projects within communities affected by drought and floods, with the government acting as the chief financier. 

NGOs play a critical role in organizing the local communities into manageable groups while offering their knowledge and expertise to implement the drip irrigation, solar pumping and rainwater harvesting. Assistance from partners also extends to playing the vital role of monitoring and evaluating the impact of projects at a community level. To do so, Irri-Hub Ke Ltd works closely with partners such as the agribusiness consultancy Kenarava Group, which focuses on the training and capacity building of small holder farmers and seedling propagators who produce quality seedlings that impact the overall productivity of the farming ventures. 

To date, Irri-Hub Ke Ltd has directly assisted over 20,000 farming households. The total impact is, however, far wider and estimated to be closer to 200,000 people. Many young people, for instance, that work using boda bodas (bicycle and motorcycle taxis) are able to secure more income by helping the farmers travel to market. Increased produce also means increased trade, benefiting market vendors and the local economy. 

With the need for new sustainable agricultural practices only continuing to grow, Irri-Hub Ke Ltd is ambitious and aims to empower a growing number of farming communities in the future.