The government plans to put an additional 1.5 million acres of land under irrigation over the next 10 years as it seeks to increase food production and reduce reliance on rainfall.
Principal Secretary for Irrigation Ephantus Kimotho said irrigation would be key in making food production more reliable, especially for farmers who depend on increasingly unpredictable rains.
Speaking on Wednesday during the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Summit at the Agricultural Society of Kenya Showground in Jamhuri, Kimotho said the government was working on plans to expand irrigation for both large-scale and smallholder farmers.
He said the expansion would be supported by water harvesting and affordable farming technologies to help farmers produce food throughout the year.
Kimotho pointed to the National Irrigation Sector Investment Plan (NISIP), a 10-year plan launched last year, which he said was designed to increase access to water for farming.
According to the PS, only about 500,000 of the 8.9 million registered farmers in the country currently practise irrigation, leaving more than eight million dependent on rain-fed agriculture.
“We want more farmers to come on board and start using irrigation as a strategy to address food deficiency and achieve food security,” Kimotho said.
He said irrigation had helped farmers achieve more consistent production and more predictable yields compared to relying entirely on rainfall.
Of the additional 1.5 million acres targeted, Kimotho said 500,000 acres would come through large-scale commercial farming. He cited the Galana Kulalu project, which is expected to put 200,000 acres under commercial irrigation.
The government is also targeting smallholder farmers through community and public irrigation schemes.
Kimotho said the country had added 114,000 acres under irrigation over the past four years, a development he linked to an increase in paddy rice production.
He said rice production had risen from 190,000 metric tonnes in 2022 to 350,000 metric tonnes in 2026.
The State Department is also planning further investments in water infrastructure, with 18 major dams either being planned or already under construction, according to Kimotho.
The government is also promoting solar-powered irrigation as part of efforts to lower the cost of farming.
Kimotho said plans were underway to help individual farmers acquire solar water pumps at subsidised prices through affordable payment arrangements.
The expansion of irrigation is part of the government’s wider efforts to increase food production and make farming less dependent on rainfall.
