Tharaka nithi: A project implementation team (PIT) from the State Department for Irrigation toured Kiramanti Irrigation Scheme in Tharaka Nithi County to assess the performance of the irrigation scheme. The team, led by Eng. Evance Lusi, the Irrigation Project Engineer for the Smallholder Irrigation Program in Mount Kenya Region, engaged Kiramanti Farmers’ Cooperative Society and the Management Committee of Kiramanti irrigation scheme, led by the interim Chairman, Patrick Japoin.

According to Kenya News Agency, the team evaluated the current progress of works on the four blocks of the scheme and the challenges the farmers have encountered in operationalizing the Irrigation Scheme. Eng. Lusi, who represented the Director Irrigation and Water Management, Farmer-led Irrigation Development (FLID), Daniel Odero, noted that the project is currently operating under the defect liability period. He urged the farmers to utilize the scheme’s water to do commercial farming to boost their incomes and secure their domestic food needs.

Eng. Lusi said that the purpose of the meetings was to identify the challenges farmers encountered and to hold discussions on the way forward to ensure all issues are identified and addressed within the defect liability period. He called on the farmers to be keen on the water flow within the scheme, to ensure that any loopholes are addressed to enhance the scheme’s optimum performance.

Committee Chairman of the Irrigation Scheme and Farmers’ Cooperative Society, Patrick Japoin, thanked the Government on behalf of the project beneficiaries for collaborating with the farmers in funding and implementing the project. He noted that when the project is fully operational, it will greatly improve the livelihoods of the beneficiaries, reduce the high unemployment levels in the area, and enhance food security for the local residents.

Kiramanti Irrigation Scheme is one of the five irrigation projects implemented in the Mount Kenya region under phase IV of the smallholder irrigation program in the Counties of Kirinyaga, Embu, and Tharaka Nithi to enhance food security and increase incomes of the farming communities. It is implemented under a public-private partnership project (blended finance model) with the support of the Kenyan Government, German Development Bank (KfW), Equity Bank, and the local farming community.

The team also visited various sites to see water distribution lines, which had been reported to be experiencing minor defects.