Urbanus Kamuti, a farmer in Mwala, Machakos County, excavated a dam on his farm in 2014.
It took him 78 days to do the work, ending up with a 500,000-litre farm dam, which collects surface runoff.
Today, the 35-year-old farmer is able produce food throughout the year come rain come shine.
“It was not an easy task,” says the father of five. “But I had to do it given the tough climatic conditions that have made food scarce.”
Kamuti has become a role model in the county, attracting farmers from far and wide who visit to learn from him.
“I farm on a three-quarter-acre that I inherited from my father. I grow watermelons, tomatoes, spinach and sukuma wiki depending on the season,” he says.
He also grows fodder trees and grass that he feeds his two dairy cows and three dairy goats. He also keeps indigenous chickens and tilapia in a fish pond.
This has so far inspired a team of young farmers in the area, who have formed a youth group dubbed ‘Sweat is Sweet’
“We saw Kamuti start excavating his dam, and it looked like a very hard task that may not yield much but he is now enjoying the fruits of his hard work and we have all followed suit,” says Simon Musyoka.
Each member of the group has a farm pond on their small parcels of land, which they use to grow various crops, becoming major suppliers of horticultural produce in Machakos. “We grow crops that are out of season especially during the dry periods to get maximum profits,” says Musyoka.
It has not rained in some parts of Mwala since December last year. But Alphonce Kimweli Ngumbi’s one acre is flourishing with lush green vegetables like spinach, pawpaw trees heavily loaded with fruits, bananas and pumpkins.
“I also keep goats, chickens and a dairy cow,” says Ngumbi. “All members of our groups integrate livestock, crops and trees because the animals provide manure for the farms while leaves from the trees also keep the soils fertile,” he says.
According to Kamuti, the group draws the farming lessons from the internet and agriculture NGOs working in the area.
“From the internet, we have learnt how to make chicken feeds locally, and how to design homemade chuff-cutters for chopping grass,” says Kamuti.
Emanuel Fondo of the World Vision says several farmer groups in the area have come up with home-grown techniques that have really helped them develop resilience to the tough climatic conditions.
“Such groups have self-drive and when we come in to train them, the uptake is very high,” says Fondo, noting they are currently working with 6,000 farmers in Machakos.
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