President William Ruto has commissioned the expansion of the Rombo Clusters Irrigation Development Project in Kajiado South, a KSh221 million investment aimed at boosting agricultural production and improving livelihoods in the region.
The expansion has increased the irrigated area from 2,983 acres to 5,500 acres across four irrigation schemes, giving thousands of farmers access to a more reliable supply of water for year-round food production.
President Ruto said the expanded project is expected to strengthen food security for more than 6,000 households while creating direct employment opportunities for over 6,000 families and supporting nearly 30,000 indirect jobs.
The project will also enable farmers to increase production of high-value horticultural crops, food crops and fruit trees, creating new opportunities for farmers to raise their incomes and make agriculture a more dependable source of livelihood.
The President said the investment forms part of the government’s wider irrigation programme in Kajiado County.
According to Ruto, 37 irrigation projects have so far been completed in the county, while another 22 are ongoing. The projects cover 14,887 acres and have benefited 74,434 farmers, with total investment reaching KSh2.5 billion.
At the national level, the government is pursuing an ambitious programme to expand irrigation coverage to 2.5 million acres.
The initiative is intended to reduce Kenya’s dependence on rain-fed agriculture, which remains vulnerable to increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, while promoting reliable, productive and climate-resilient farming.
The government expects expanded irrigation infrastructure to increase food production, create employment and improve household incomes by allowing farmers to cultivate crops throughout the year.
