COLEACP’ SUPPORT IN KENYA-WATER AND SOIL MANAGEMENT

Kenyan farmers are facing increasingly severe droughts due to significant climate change in production areas. Most small and medium-sized farmers often have limited access to irrigation, and their dependence on reduced rainfall and precipitation is of increasing concern. Several green bean-exporting companies have requested support to help their producers use available water more efficiently and sustainably.

Technical assistance is being deployed to develop a multi-stage support and training methodology. Following an initial diagnosis to analyse current practices, it will be possible to identify measures that are easy to adopt; simple (not requiring complex and costly technology); and effective in improving current water-management practices, and to create a water-management training programme. This programme will be deployed by the technical teams of exporting companies. A first diagnostic mission was carried out at the companies Frigoken (which works with 50,000 small producers) and Interveg (350 producers).

The same methodology is used to meet a similar demand for land management. The objective is to identify measures that smallholders can easily apply to minimise damage caused by drought conditions and to take advantage of improved soil fertility. These measures must not lead to an increase in production costs for farmers, and must be easily integrated into their agricultural production practices, crop rotation and livestock management. The target crop for this first step is green bean cultivation; the two companies supported are again Interveg and Frigoken. The measures defined will be integrated into a training programme on soil conservation and proposals for alternative practices.