Kenyan farmers with access to agriculture extension services produce 32 per cent more than those without. To this end, Kitui County will recruit more than 100 extension officers this financial year.
According to renowned market research company Infotrak, Kitui was the third most improved county between 2020 and 2023 in agriculture production and the delivery of agriculture extension services and training to farmers. Over the three years, the Eastern Kenya county jumped 17 places from the 35th-ranked County to number 18 with more than half of farmers scoring the county positively in its performance.
Key to this improvement is the recruitment of young agriculture extension service providers. In 2017 and 2022 the county recruited 94 agricultural extension staff each equipped with grafting kits and land leveling kits used to break the soil’s hardpan and encourage water to get into the soil. “Many of our agriculture officers are under 30 years old, which is a departure from what was there before or is still the case in most counties, and we plan on recruiting another 100 extension officers this financial year,” informed Francis Kitoo, Kitui’s Director of Agriculture.
The county government has also ensured that these officers are mobile by buying 120 motorcycles since extension services were devolved.
For Kitoo who was an extension officer under gorvernment ran agriculture extension programme this has helped reach farmers far more effectively than they ever have. “Previously, we had to share transport services which delayed service delivery to farmers, now every extension officer we have has a Yamaha bike and can reach any farmer regardless of how remote of a region they are in,” he said.
The extension officers are divided across the county, sub-county, ward, and village levels.
Every one of Kitui’s 40 ward has an agricultural extension officer who is assisted by two to three frontline extension officer. On average, Francis informs that there are 6,000 farmers in every ward. This means the ratio of extension officers to farmers is 1:1,500. This is better than the average rate of extension workers to farmers in Kenya but still far exceeds the 1:500/400 recommended ratio. This has necessitated the county’s push to bolster its extension worker numbers.
At the county headquarters, there are the heads of the crop and food, agriculture extension, farm development, agribusiness, and planning departments as well as two assistants. At the sub-county level, there is the sub-county agricultural officers, veterinary officer, crops officer, and farm development officer.
The agriculture extension officials also work under performance contracts and have clearly defined work plans. This involves two days of farm visits and three days of working with farmer groups and hosting demos depending on the season.
The county also ran its inaugural Kitui Agricultural Show and Trade Fair on July 24-25th at the Ithookwe Showground. According to the county’s Livestock CEC Stephen Kimwele, the county-funded and ran agricultural exhibition focused on teaching farmers new farming techniques and technologies as well as showcasing farming innovations that help farmers in the arid and semi-arid county learn the best climate-smart agriculture technologies to help improve their productivity and the region’s food security.
The county also finished constructing the Agricultural Training Centre- ATC located in Kitui town which trains hundreds of farmers every month. It also sells chickens, fertilised eggs, and tissue culture bananas to farmers. Additionally, the center’s 60-seater bus is used by farmers to get on at least six peer-to-peer farm learning tours every year.
The county has further made a concerted effort to invest in agriculture machinery which has seen the number of county tractors which are leased to farmers increase from just two before devolution to 40 today. Backhoe loaders are now readily available for terracing and waterpan construction which is vital to capture rainwater in the water-scarce county. It also now has four dozers from one and has purchased a low loader used to transport heavy loads and agriculture machinery– this was previously leased from Kiambu County.
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