A Peek into Galana Kulalu Food Security Project
On the fringes of Tsavo East National Park a buzz of activities is going on. It has nothing to do with wildlife but rather an agricultural project of colossal magnitude. A brainchild of His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The Galana Kulalu Food Security Project has transformed the once bushy thicket landscape to a sight to behold.
From the sky, perfect green circles can be seen as the center pivot irrigation systems water maize plantation on the once idle and virgin land.
The grain storage facility at the Logistics Center towers above the serene Galana Wildlife Conservancy Ecosystem.
Here state of the art pumps rave and rant as they deliver water more than 5kms from River Galana. Workers on the site are seen busy on the farm which is a beehive of activities going on with their jobs oblivious of the scorching sun.
The project has come with benefits to the locals. Roads are being upgraded, job opportunities have sprung up both directly and indirectly, neighbouring farmers also get a glimpse and learn about modern agricultural practices.
This project has come at a perfect timing considering the drought that has ravaged most parts of Kilifi County and people are starting to understand the cons of depending on rain-fed agriculture.
If this gets replicated elsewhere in the country, the perennial food shortage would be a thing of the past in Kenya. A variety of crops grown here apart from maize include fruit trees like mangoes, avocado, cashews and even sugarcane.
The schools from the Coastal counties and the country at large should be encouraged to tour this facility and inculcate the importance of mechanized agriculture to the youth at a tender age. This will solve most of our country’s unemployment problem.
