By Gift James
Siaya County is on the road to rewriting the story of its agricultural economy through various initiatives aimed at boosting the food and revenue base of the region.
Reports show that Siaya, with a poverty index of 38.2 percent had its economy projected to grow by 4.0 percent in the Financial Year (FY) 2020/21 and 5.9 percent over the medium term.
The economic backbone of Siaya County is mainly on agriculture and fishing sectors with the local agricultural production consisting of rice, cotton, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, kales, indigenous greens, bananas, sweet potatoes, and cassava.
The county government has rolled out elaborate interventions for the agricultural economy from irrigation to value chain addition to the agricultural products to enhance food security and revenue income to the farmers.
Similarly, the county government is developing a policy framework to guide the agricultural programs in the county.
“Siaya County is in the process of developing a food and feed safety policy to enable structured food and feed safety control systems. This will promote public safety and support socio-economic development,” Mr. Silvestre K’Okoth, the County Executive Committee member (CECM) for Agriculture, Food Security, Livestock & Blue Economy said.
He said after the formalization of the policy, the county government envisages a situation where stakeholders will have specific and targeted guidelines and protocols that will ensure they produce, process, market, store, and eat safely.
He said the County Government targets to collaborate with relevant stakeholders including the Micro Enterprises Support Program Trust (MESPT).
“We will intensify farmer advisory on food safety measures, establish a food safety desk that will help handle matters arising in this field, train all food vendors especially those that sell to a large number of consumers, acquisition of aflatoxin testing equipment, and enhance use of technology on food safety interventions,” he said.
In Nyamila, West Ugenya ward the county government has initiated commercial rice farming with a hope to change the fortune of flood-prone residents.
The county government intervened through the construction of canals to control frequent spillovers from the nearby Mlambo Dam.
A resident, Mr. Julius Onyango, said the authorities have transformed a once impassable, abandoned, and dangerous field into fertile agricultural land with plenty of flowing water to irrigate any kind of crop throughout the year.
“Nyamila joins Bunyala, Usonga, and Anyiko as a viable upcoming rice-growing zone in the County. I have started writing my story from the four-acre of land and I am optimistic that all my neighbors will make use of the available 600-acre fertile land to produce rice,” he said.
K’Okoth said his department will collaborate with the Departments of Water and Roads to improve the drainage and irrigation systems by strategically installing culverts and opening up access roads to allow for easier passage.
Recently, President William Samoei Ruto commissioned the Siriwo Rice mill in Usonga Ward, constructed by the County Government at a cost of Sh 60 million.
The Mill, one of a kind in the region has a processor capacity of 2.5 metric tons per hour.
“My government has allocated an additional Sh 50 million to ensure that we invest in extra accessories that will ensure the facility runs as a full-fledged factory. I commend Siaya County Under the leadership of Governor James Orengo.
The CEC said the government was on the verge of rolling out a road map for coffee farmers to utilize the 3,000 acres for coffee production.
“About 250 farmers in Ndenga, West Ugenya Ward have formed Ugenya Coffee Growers Cooperative Society. This will hasten provision of agricultural inputs such as seeds, chemicals, fertilizer and aggregation of produce,” Chairperson Cooperative, Mr. Francis Onyango said.
The Department of Agriculture recently gave the farmers 3,000 coffee seedlings to spur the revival of coffee farming in the area.
K’Okoth said the engagement of the county agricultural extension Service to educate and sensitize farmers will go a long way in reviving the sector.
The government gave 21 Motorcycles to Extension Officers in Nyalgunga, North Alego Ward. To ease the movement of the extension workers in addressing the needs of various farmers.
A research project by Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology (JOOUST), enabled the farmers in West Ugenya to acquire an oil processing machine with a capacity of processing three tons of sunflower seeds per day.
Currently, over 600 members of Wazee Hukumbuka Cooperative Society, Aboke, West Ugenya can now produce cooking oil, and sell the seed cake to fish and livestock feed processors at Sh. 35/= per Kg.
Chairperson, William Opondo, said they make money from sunflower products and intend to increase acreages under sunflower production, reduce production costs, and enhance their productivity by over 50 percent.
Last season the farmers received 16,350 kgs of sunflower seeds to facilitate the process of realizing over 19,000 acres of land under production.
Farmers in Yimbo are already reaping big from capsicum farming popularly known as pili pili hoho,
Kanyibok Village Youth Group in West Yimbo Ward, Bondo Sub County has adopted the Use of Six Green houses to grow Capsicum under a solar Irrigation system.
