The Kenya Cereal Enhancement Program- Climate Resilience Agricultural Livelihoods Window (KCEP-CRAL) held a technologies validation workshop in Kitui County on 3^rd August 2017.  KCEP-CRAL, funded by the European Commission and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) aims to improve food security and smallholder income in the Kenyan arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) by bolstering the productivity and marketing of selected cereal commodities. KCEP-CRAL focuses on the three leading rainfed cereals (maize, sorghum, and millet) and four pulses (beans, cowpeas, green grams, and pigeon peas). The program is implemented in eight counties in Kenya and is targeting 100,000 beneficiaries. The KCEP-CRAL action sites overlap with the ICRAF-led project on the Restoration of Degraded Lands, particularly in Kitui county. On-going collaboration and coordination between the two programs is key to reaching the goal of improving food security and improving livelihoods in the project areas.

The objectives of the validation workshop were to: Discuss and review the research findings of the on-station and on-farm fertility trials; 2) View soil mapping outputs; 3) Share results of the varietal testing trials for sorghum, millet, pigeon pea and green gram; and 4) Inform stakeholders about the technology packages, including the e-voucher package.  Stakeholders from Mwingi North and Mwingi Central, including farmers, agro-vets, and County Agricultural Officers, took part in the workshop. The technologies validated by the participants in Kitui County to be incorporated in the e-voucher package for the next season include: Sorghum: Gadam and Sila variety, Millet: KatPM1 and KatPM2 variety, and Green grams: N26 and KS20 variety; fertilizer (NPK, Minjingu/mavuno/Mazao); hermetic bags; and tarpoulin bags.

In addition to validating the technologies implemented in the first year, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) presented preliminary results of the best-bet farming technologies on climate smart agriculture (CSA), soil fertility management, fertilizer efficacy, and crop variety selection and management.  CSA technologies trialed both on-farm and on-station included zai planting basins (60cm*60cm* 30cm), tie ridges, zero tillage, and conventional tillage. Preliminary results presented by KALRO indicate that crops planted in zai planting basins had higher yields compared to those under zero tillage and conventional tillage and the crops in tie ridges performed better than those under conventional tillage. Results from the IFAD/EC funded project title, “Restoration of degraded land for food security and poverty reduction in East Africa and the Sahel: taking successes in land restoration to scale”  will be shared with KCEP-CRAL in order to continue to build the evidence base on what works where, for whom, across Kenyan Drylands and to better communicate these data with NGOs, farmers and government officers.

Land Degradation in Kitui county Kenya

Maize planted in zai planting basins