By Isaiah Esipisu
IMENTI, Kenya
- On a five-acre piece of land being prepared for planting, James Mwenda shouts
at his two oxen, commanding them to move in a straight line as they pull a
ripper that cuts a long slit into the unploughed ground.
The
"low-till" farming system – in which land is no longer ploughed and
seeds are slotted into largely undisturbed soil – is gaining fans in
drouga because it helps preserve moisture in the soil.
But Mwenda
likes it for another reason: it has given him a job.
The
31-year-old is one of more than 1,500 people trained in Kenya to handle the
special equipment needed to prepare land and plant crops under the new
"low-till" system.
Now he makes
money hiring out his services to other farmers in Imenti Central, a sub-county
of Meru County, who may not have the funds to buy the specialised equipment
themselves.
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| James Mwenda preparing his farm |
"This is
a new farming technique that has shown very positive results for the past two
seasons, and many small-scale farmers in this area are now getting hooked to
it," said Mwenda, from Kimate village.
"Low-till"
or "zero-till" farming is nothing particularly new. It has been
increasingly popular around the world since after World War II – and similar
no-plough systems were the basis for much ancient agriculture, before the
modern plough was invented.
But the system
– part of a suite of farming techniques known as "conservation
agriculture" – is now gaining popularity in Kenya among small-scale
farmers trying to beat worsening drought.
Introduced to
farmers in dry areas in 2015 by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), it is increasingly
popular both for its ability to protect harvests and for the job possibilities
it offers young farmers able to use the specialised equipment needed.
NEW JOBS
In Imenti
Central, a total of 44 young men and women have been trained on how to handle
the zero-till farming equipment, said Patrick Ng'ang'a, a former trainer now
working as a desk officer in charge of conservation agriculture for Meru
County.
Mwenda, one of
those trained, said income from his low-till planting business now has
surpassed his income from farming his own land.
"This has
become my main source of income," said Mwenda, who now can operate all the
hand-held and ox-driven equipment, from rippers and jab planters to oxen-driven
planters and shallow weeders.
So far, much
of the low-till equipment used in the area has been purchased by the FAO and is
made available free of charge at government offices to groups of farmers
trained to use it.
But some
farmers who have started low-till planting services also are beginning to buy
locally fabricated equipment.
"The idea
that farmers are willing to purchase some of this equipment on their own is an
indication that they are willing to move forward with the zero- or low-till
farming techniques," said Mercy Mulevu, the FAO's county programme officer
in Meru County.
According to
Ng'ang'a, the government has set a standard fee for every activity conducted
using the specialised equipment.
"We had
to intervene because, given that only a few people understand how to handle the
equipment, they were likely going to take advantage and overcharge their
clients," he said.
Hiring someone
to do traditional ploughing of an acre of land in Meru costs about 1,200 Kenyan
shillings ($12), farmers say. But slitting lines using a ripper costs as low as
$6 per acre because it consumes less energy, those doing the work say.
MORE DROUGHT, MORE GRAIN
Farmers who
adopted the new farming techniques in recent years have been able to boost
their harvests, which has attracted more farmers and created more jobs
providing services to them, Ng'ang'a said.
In many dry
areas of Kenya, crops planted last season failed as drought swept across much
of East Africa. But Margaret Gacheke, one farmer who hires Mwenda's low-till
services, said she harvested 15 90-kilo bags of maize per acre from her land in
February – higher than the usual 13 bags she gets from the land when rainfall
is normal.
"This was
far beyond average because my immediate neighbor who used the normal
conventional farming method did not harvest anything, despite of having used
fertilisers and certified seed," Gacheke said.
Using
conservation agriculture techniques such as low-till farming over time helps
improve harvests as the amount of water-holding organic matter in the soil
increases, studies have shown.
"The main
reason for introducing this technique was to enable communities, particularly
in dry-land areas, to build resilience to climate stresses, increase food
productivity and engage in agribusiness for income generation," Mulevu
said.
In Tharaka
West, a Meru sub-county, members of Maweni Farmer Field School have grown
sorghum for the past two seasons using low-till farming techniques.
With
consistent harvests, they were able to secure a contract to supply their crop
to the Kenya Breweries Company, which uses the grain to make alcohol, said
Stephen Simba Njagi, a member of the field school.
Low-till
farming works best alongside other smart farming techniques, such as rotating
crops, adopting drought-tolerant varieties and using certified seed, said
Cyprian Mariene, who trains farmers in the techniques in Imenti Central.
According to
FAO, over 10,000 small-scale farmers in Kenya's eight semi-arid counties are
already practicing low-till farming. Mariene said many farmers are adopting the
techniques after seeing them used by neighbours and relatives.
The techniques
also have been promoted on popular television shows such as Shamba Shape-Up on
Kenya's Citizen TV – a practical documentary programme that teaches viewers
about good agricultural practices.
Article originally published at Building
Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED).
