Farmers encouraged to embrace Climate Smart Agriculture

Narok,

Thursday, November 16, 2023,

KNA by John Kaleke/Amos Maine

Farmers encouraged to embrace Climate Smart Agriculture Farmers in Narok County have been urged to embrace climate-smart agriculture (CSA) in carrying out their agricultural activities.

Farmers benefited from CSA, a training that was conducted by World Vision in collaboration with the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

While speaking during a farmers' training, Lydia Mashori a farming expert at Ewaso Ngiro South Development Authority (ENSDA) said that CSA helps farmers to practice agriculture by adopting methods that increase crop productivity and resilience to climate change. Mashori added that by embracing CSA, farmers are guaranteed higher yields as crops and animals that they adopt are considered to be resilient to climate change.

Further, Mashori urged the farmers to embrace organic farming instead of the modern means that seek to use a lot of fertilizers and agrochemicals in their firms.

She said that some organic farming like the use of manure helps in the preservation of farm fertility unlike the use of fertilizers that would sometimes ruin the fertility.

Mashori also urged the farmers to practice adaptive farming by breeding climate-adaptive animals and crops instead of focusing on the old type of breeding and cultivation which might not survive following the radical climate changes.

Festus Barchok, an environment expert at Maasai Mara University, said that as part of CSA, farmers should consider agroforestry as it conserves soil fertility and eliminates soil erosion.

Barchok urged farmers to also embrace rotational cultivation and avoid monotonous cultivation as it lowers the yield on the farm and loosens the soil making it easy to be eroded during heavy rains.

Kelvin Kisotu, a beneficiary of the Kisto training program appreciated World Vision and KOICA for the programs that have been of great benefit to them. He noted that the community should embrace the new technology to be able to reap maximum benefits from agriculture.

Courtesy; KNA