Irrigation sees switch to crops paying off

NAIROBI — In Turkana County in northern Kenya, lush green maize crops on a farm in Lokichar catches one's eye as they sway in sync with the dry winds blowing from hills a distance away.

Surrounded by scorched desert trees and shrubs, the crops sit on about 100 acres (40 hectares) of land. The bulk of the land is parched and can barely support any vegetation due to the lack of rain in the arid region.

Rains have failed for the last four seasons and led to the worst drought in four decades, Kenya's National Drought Management Authority said.

But the maize crops are thriving as they are grown under irrigation. A Kenyan government agency has contracted former pastoralists to grow the crops.

"These maize crops sit on 120 acres (48 hectares). Apart from maize, we also grow green grams, tomatoes and watermelons," Milton Loito, chairman of the irrigation scheme known as Katilu, said.

Up to 3,500 farmers, who are former pastoralists, grow the crops under the scheme.

"We now depend on crop farming for our livelihood. This is better than pastoralism, where we had to walk from one place to another looking for pasture," Benjamin Awala, who grows groundnuts, said.

At 24, Awala is at his prime. Were it not for the shift to crop farming, he would now be kilometers away herding cattle and camels in search of pasture.

Over the years, that long trek in search of pasture has been a recipe for conflict between the Turkanas and neighboring communities like the Pokot.

Over the years, climate-induced conflicts have claimed hundreds of lives from both the Turkanas and Pokots.

While some of the conflicts have been due to pasture and water, others have been raids by members of both communities to restock their animals that have died due to drought.

In September, at least 11 people were killed by cattle rustlers during an ambush at a village in Turkana, police said.

Deborah Akiru farms crop under the Katilu scheme with over 200 other members of the nomadic community.

"With groundnuts, we are not targets of raids by cattle rustlers. Besides that, we don't have conflicts with our neighbors due to pasture and water resources," Akiru said.

"From the money I get from groundnuts, I can buy food, pay school fees and cater for my other needs," Akiru said.

Xinhua