The county government in collaboration with Food and Agricultural Organisation has intensified efforts to boost groundnut production through training of farmers.
The farmers are being trained on organization development, legal issues and community food systems.
County Chief Officer for Agriculture and Land Reclamation Janerose Tioko said the training aims to develop the capacity of the groundnut producers to be able to take advantage of the market opportunities and enhance resilience amongst farmers.
Tioko underscored the need for farmers to acquire knowledge for nutrition value, sustainability and increased groundnuts production to commercialization of the crop in Turkana.
She said the groundnut crop had proved to be a high yielding crop in the 250 acres where it had been piloted and hinted at plans by the county government to engage investors on establishing a factory and linkages to source market for the crop.
She lauded FAO for promoting cohesiveness and farming by integrating the refugees and host communities through the Refugee Agricultural Value Chains for Economic Self Reliance (RAVES) project.
The four-year project funded by the IKEA Foundation identified the groundnut value chain as a potential crop for sustainable income generation as well as nutrition security for both the host and refugee community. IKEA Foundation is a Dutch foundation founded in 1982.
She regretted that climate change was frustrating efforts to bolster food production and assured that the Government was committed towards partnering with all stakeholders including private actors to achieve its agenda on food security.
Prolonged drought as well as low adoption of good agricultural practices on groundnuts have been identified as part of challenges facing growth of the crop in Turkana.
The farmers are being trained by County Agribusiness Officer Eli Karani and County Crop Officer Gabriel Okata, among other frontline officers.
By Peter Gitonga
