Nakuru IAP

Nakuru Irrigation Acceleration Platform (NIAP)

Nakuru Irrigation Acceleration Platform (NIAP) Water harvesting and storage for use in irrigation provides great opportunities for growth and development in the  agriculture sector of Kenya. With only 3m3 water use/capita/year, Kenya has one of the lowest surface water storage rates in the world for irrigated agriculture and
livestock use (ICRAF 2012). By 2013, only 12% (161,840 ha) of the irrigation potential had been developed (Water Master Plan, 2012).
To realize this huge potential, more investment in Smart Water Solutions (SWS) for agriculture is needed by all agricultural actors, i.e., farmers, the state, and private sector (e.g., SWS inputs & technology providers, market of takers and financial service providers). 

The Nakuru Irrigation Acceleration Platform (NIAP) hosted at Egerton University and funded by SNV - Kenya (The Netherlands Development Organization) under the Smart Water for Agriculture (SWA) project, was initiated in January 2017 to create a forum (platform) that brings together interested irrigated agricultural value chain (IAVC) actors in Nakuru County. SWA program supports four other County Irrigation Acceleration platforms in, Laikipia, Machakos, Meru and Uasi niGishu Counties.

KEY ACTIVITIES

01

Farmer Education, Field days and on-farm demonstration sites

The project targets to reach more than 6000 farmers through various strategies. The primary methods are to expand and set up demo sites and organize farmer field days within the nine smart water for agriculture clusters established in 2017 and 2018. A minimum of three clusters will each have a demo site, from where farmers will practically learn SWS. In mid 2017, four clusters, in Gilgil, Njoro, Rongai (Molo river) and Lower Subukia (Lari Wendani) were trained in post-harvest care of fresh produce for meeting market standards. Five field days were held from July - October, 2018. An annual Nakuru farmer’s network day will be held in February/ March 2019 to demonstrate the potential of applied water for crop production during the rainy of-season period. is is the period when farm produce fetches the highest prices. We will partner with the Nakuru County farmers call centre – a digital platform - to promote SWS technologies and thus, reach a wider audience. Print and social media will also be used.
02

Create Business linkages

Facilitate business to business (B2B) meetings that create at least ten (10) business linkages between various actors; e.g., that enable access to sustainable and reliable markets and finance; enhancing the trade of inputs and farm produce economically and profitably. The IAP is creating awareness of existing farm produce of-take markets, i.e., Frigoken and Twiga foods and supporting the recruitment of more farmers along identified input and of-take value chains.
03

Facilitate County level Platform meetings

Quarterly platform forums will be held that bring key stakeholders to a roundtable to discuss the future of irrigated agriculture in Nakuru County and Kenya. For sustainability, the Nakuru IAP is testing and refining the event co-funding model,which was piloted during the potato and irrigated cropping systems Farmer Education day held on 22nd June, 2018 at Egerton, where private sector and county government co- financed 50 % of the budget.
04

Document business cases

The project will document business cases that demonstrate the impact of irrigated agriculture in the County. These cases will be used for training and policy advocacy
04

Document business cases

The project will document business cases that demonstrate the impact of irrigated agriculture in the County. These cases will be used for training and policy advocacy

OBJECTIVES

1. Facilitate the Nakuru-IAP and building networks
2. Support brokering of business deals in irrigated agriculture
3. Capacity-build farmers and value chain actors in SWA
4. Mobilize the private sector support for development of SWA in Nakuru County
5. Document business cases for advocacy and scale up of identified SWA innovations

                           Core IAP Partners

•Nakuru County Government


•Smart Water Solution (SWS) technology providers


•Financial Service providers (Banks, SACCOS’ and Insurance organizations)


•Commodity Market of-takers

 •Small to Mediumagri-Enterprise (SME)farmers (1/4 to 12 acres)

•Egerton University - The Nakuru IAP host (i.e., the neutral knowledge institute)

FUTURE PLANS

Nakuru IAP members are committed to continue beyond the end of the project cycle in June 2019. We are aware that joint sustainable interaction between farmers and the public-private irrigation service providers will be possible, only when each party’s contribution towards their participation, will be met and driven by evident mutual benefits. Therefore we will continue to participate and support meetings that discuss how to bridge the food deficit currently facing our nation. Egerton University is positioning its outreach programs so as to increase experiential learning  opportunities for both students and staff amongst irrigated value chain actors.
With support from SNV-Kenya,it will set up a practical SWS demonstration centre to showcase existing irrigated agriculture technologies for equitable generation of on-farm income. You are welcome to be part of this journey.

About CaWSA

The CaWSA- Centre showcases various water conservation, storage, abstraction and distribution systems and soil and moisture conservation technologies, innovations and management practices (TIMPS).

Get In Touch

Prof. Anthony M. Kibe,

CaWSA – Centre Coordinator
Crops, Horticulture and Soils Department, Egerton
University, Njoro, Kenya.

Email: akibe@egerton.ac.ke,
+254721402957

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