Establishment of Avocado and Mango Demonstration Plots in Elgeyo Marakwet County
By Rose Kawira – Multimedia Officer, Africa Harvest
The Restore Africa team in Kenya successfully established demonstration sites in Elgeyo Marakwet. This activity, led by Africa Harvest, in partnership with Self Help Africa (SHA) and Justdiggit, saw the establishment of two avocado demonstration plots and one mango demonstration plot that will serve as learning centers for farmers.
The avocado demonstration plot established at the Chebara Agricultural Training Center (ATC), will benefit farmers across Elgeyo Marakwet County. The other plot was set up at Beatrice Chemwolo’s farm to support farmers in the Keiyo North Sub-County.
“We are thankful to the Restore Africa program for establishing this avocado demo plot. The plot will boost our knowledge of the good agricultural practices for avocados,” said Dorothy Kemboi, an avocado farmer in Elegyo Marakwet.
The mango demonstration plot established at Jesca Kiprop’s farm, a lead farmer in Cheptebo, will serve farmers in Chesigot Sub-County. “Before today’s training, I would use holes of 1 foot by 1 foot when planting a mango tree, but today I have learned that the ideal is 3 feet by 3 feet”, said Jesca after receiving the good agricultural practices (GAPs) training. “This enables the mango tree to get enough space to grow and absorb water considering this is an Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) area and we have water shortage issues.
In Elgeyo Marakwet, the program will focus on supporting five value chains selected during value chain analysis including; avocado, mango, cassava, sorghum, and dairy cattle. The county is uniquely located in two ecological zones: the highlands and the lowlands.
Kevin Ruto, the County Implementing Officer (CIO) at Africa Harvest, has been working closely with local farmers, to ensure the smooth rollout of the program on the ground. “This demo farm is important to me since I will be using it to train farmers on various components of GAPs,” Kevin pointed out.
Restore Africa is the world’s largest community-led, nature-based carbon removal program. The program currently spans six African countries – Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia – restoring almost two million hectares while supporting 1.5 million smallholder farmers and their communities. In Kenya, the program runs in 5 counties namely Elgeyo Marakwet, Narok, Migori, Kwale, and Kilifi.
The Restore Africa Program’s main goal is a sustained improvement in ecosystem restoration, livelihoods, and resilience to climate change for 250,000 small-scale farmers and pastoralists covering 250,000 hectares in Kenya by 2052. To achieve this, the program aims to improve livelihoods, income, and climate resilience for these households and communities and reduce carbon footprint, by restoring productive assets and creating market incentives for sustainable productivity.
