Why Every Drop of Water Counts in Feeding A Growing Population

By Bimal Kantaria

Water is life. So we hear. But nowhere has this been aptly captured than in feeding a burgeoning world population. Globally there is an estimated 842 million hungry people meaning one in eight people in the world suffer from chronic hunger.

Serious concerns about how prepared the country is in feeding the growing population with the same, or even shrinking land space would be addressed have been raised. The idea is to ensure a smooth food system that allows uninterrupted processes from farm to fork.

With Kenya having two thirds of its land under arid and semi-arid zones, concerns on how to exploit these lands to keep the nation food secure in the wake of changing weather patterns and dwindling agricultural land has been rife.

Yet for hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers in the country struggling to place food on their table and earn some form of livelihood, there is no second option even as that one drop of water to nourish those tender crops seems out of reach.

But any agribusiness behemoth world over knows better than just relying on the heavens especially for year round supply of food. And even as we toy with the idea of making Kenya the breadbasket of the continent and ultimately the world, our modus operandi must go through a complete 360 turn around. Nowhere did farming that relies on the heavens even save a country from the yokes of hunger.

And it starts with our very own small farmers. Getting smart by utilizing small spaces of land to grow more, taking advantage of water sources and water harvesting techniques to save this all precious commodity for future use. It is possible and can be done. For the past few years, farmers were awarded for emerging top in the National Farmers Award Scheme organized by Elgon Kenya Ltd and the Ministry of Agriculture. But what was striking is that a number came from areas considered infertile, with its people cast to endless hunger. But behind the heartbreaking media images of barren swathes of land and empty bowls, is the story of oases of hopes that has seen these farmers feed not just their families but their entire region. And they did it with so little; their resolve was to farm smart. And such efforts are the baby step to the country’s resolve to be hunger free.

That is why government’s renewed passion to open up millions of agricultural land for irrigation is a step in the right direction. Irrigation makes agriculture possible in areas previously unsuitable for intensive crop production. Irrigation transports water to crops to increase yield, keep crops cool under excessive heat conditions and prevent freezing. Yet even with this amazing concept less than 10 percent of Kenyan cropland is irrigated.

But talk of irrigation alone doesn’t help. What exactly are we doing to empower especially the small holder farmers across the country understand the essence of economical water use? We must account for every water drop we use, to allow it translate to high yields and fed nation. Drip irrigation one of the most promising irrigation ventures has been hailed world over for delivering maximum yields with minimum water. Such venture should be second gospel to our farmers. Then there is the affordability. With most small scale farmers owning small tracts of land, it makes sense to give them something equally small, manageable and pocket friendly.

Drip irrigation kits like Elgon Kadogo drip kits have been testament to the fact that if we warm up farmers to affordable irrigation methods, we will break the myth of farming through irrigation among our farmers and eventually create a green nation.

The writer is a Director Elgon Kenya Ltd.