In an effort to boost food security, Laikipia County government has launched a 2-year dam rehabilitation project that aims at providing irrigation water to thousands of farmers.
While launching the dams desilting project in Pesi, Salama Ward, Laikipia governor Joshua Irungu said that his administration targets 50 dams across the county, where some would be desilted and new ones excavated.
“We want to empower people through farming and to achieve that, we can’t depend on rain alone for food security and wealth creation. As a county, we have purchased machines for dam excavation,” said Irungu.
He pointed out that the county government had acquired an excavator at a cost of Sh30 million and was in the process of purchasing an additional one as the project extends across all the 15 wards.
He said that Nguo dam which lies at a swampy area and occupied 25 acres of land in the 1960s, has been receding over the years due to soil erosion, adding that less than three acres remains.
However, the governor noted that when desilting is complete, it will support more than 3,000 farmers in the area.
Governor Irungu said it would cost about Sh50 million to desilt the Nguo Dam which includes the purchase of the new excavator, two lorries and labour costs but noted that the initiative would not only benefit the farming community but would also boost county revenue collection.
Residents of Salama Ward, one of the food baskets that supply the county and its neighbourhood with fresh horticultural produce welcomed the intervention saying it’s a dream come true to them, after numerous promises from leaders during campaign periods.
“We have suffered long enough; our produce has been wasting away due to lack of water for irrigation; desilting Nguo dam is a major boost to us. Previously we have been sourcing farm produce from Nyandarua, but that will soon be a thing of the past,” said Peter Ngugi, a resident of Pesi.
Pesi, the headquarters of Salama ward, is an agricultural urban centre that supplies fresh produce to parts of Nyandarua and Samburu counties, as well as Nyahururu and Rumuruti towns in Laikipia County.
By Muturi Mwangi
