By Habil Onyango
The County Government of Homa Bay has signed Sh800M a Community Driven Development Project (CDDP) Memorandum of Understanding with farmers across twenty wards within the County.
The initiative was being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development through the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP).
The CDDPs were made up of local Community-based Organizations.
In Homa Bay, the priority value chains that have been identified include Cotton, Dairy, Coffee, Rice, and Banana.
The project was built on the formation which was set by the World Bank-funded projects which are the National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth (NARIG)
Addressing the 40 CDDPs and twenty farmers SACCO Officials drawn from the twenty wards from Homa Bay, Deputy Governor Oyugi Magwanga said that the project was aimed at increasing the market participation and value addition for targeted farmers in the selected value chains.
The DG who is also the Executive Committee Member for the Agriculture Cabinet said that it was also aimed at supporting 500,000 small farmers in transiting from subsistence to commercial farming focusing on the five value chains.
He said the project will tackle the high cost of farm inputs, low crop and livestock yield, inadequate knowledge, and poor market linkages post-harvest losses and offer loans to farmers to ensure they improve their yields.
According to the project, the farmers will be able to access loans on their SACCOs which will enable them to increase productivity in their farming activities.
“Through this project, our farmers will be able to buy certified seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides, acquisition of spraying pumps, get market for their produce, and get training on the five value chains selected to ensure they improve on their productivity and create more job opportunities for the locals,” said the CECM.
Magwanga however admitted that the NARGIP project had a number of challenges that barred it from achieving its main goal, however, with the NAVCDP, they will ensure that it succeeds.
According to Magwanga the project which will run for five years will address the challenges that are being faced by cooperatives and farmers.
The DG however warned those who would have benefitted from the fund to ensure they use it prudently saying that as a County Government, they will ensure that each cent was accounted for.
According to the County Programs Coordinator Henry Nzinga, Homa Bay was one of the 33 Counties implementing the project which will be done in all 40 Counties.
He said that they have already engaged the locals in a Public Participation exercise to sensitize and inform them about the project.
He said that they will establish and run demonstration farms, provide grants to farmers’ SACCOs to enable them to operate effectively, and loan their members to enable their investments in the five value chains selected.
He said that most of the activities they are conducting are related to marketing the value chains they are working with.
He said that the project has a principle of community-driven development whereby the farmers are supposed to manage the resources by themselves.
“As a community, we are going to manage the resources while the Government will give out them out,” he said.
“The CDDP will be in charge of smaller groups of farmers where they will be able to mobilize and get information to the County,” he said.
“Farmers require resources, and they now have an opportunity to access these through their SACCOs,” he said.
Erick Adel, the County Director of Agriculture advised the CDDP to be more accommodating since they need numbers to succeed.
