More support coming farmers’ way in the ASAL parts of Kenya
Kenya
Published Nov 27, 2021
Tridge summary
When Betty Bondo, a farmer in Kenya’s Makueni County, started growing new green gram varieties introduced by ICRISAT, her yield tripled from two bags (200 kg) per acre to six bags (600 kg) per acre. This encouraged her to increase green gram cultivation acreage from 1 to 3 and then to 20.
Original content
Betty and her family are among the 163,000 households that were reached with improved Drought Tolerant Crops (DTC) varieties that are climate resilient, high yielding and early maturing through ICRISAT’s Accelerated Value Chain Development-Drought Tolerant Crops (AVCD-DTC). These households are gainfully farming as a business, and household members are either out of or on a pathway to escaping absolute poverty and attaining food and nutrition security. Prior to AVCD-DTC program interventions, most farmers used local varieties that were sold in the market, most of which were recycled seed, because there was no improved varieties. ICRISAT, through AVCD-DTC, introduced farmers in Busia, Siaya, Elgeyo Marakwet, Tharaka Nithi, Kitui, Makueni, and Taita Taveta counties to the improved varieties of sorghum, finger millet, green gram, pigeonpea, groundnut and cowpea. The program also trained them on seed acquisition, planting on time, proper spacing during planting, intercropping, and ...
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