Vihiga farmers have been urged to shift from traditional farming to climate smart agriculture in line with the proposals in the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) 2023-2027.
Speaking during the CIDP validation forum on Thursday, Vihiga governor Dr. Wilber Ottichilo said it is high time the farmers moved away from rain-fed agriculture and embrace irrigation.
Dr. Ottichilo stated that adopting new agricultural technologies would enable the farmers to realize an increase in the yields stressing: “The application of the latest appropriate technologies such as high yielding seeds, proper seed rate and best field management practices would lead to good returns for farmers.”
The delegates supported the proposal for the county to forge partnerships with donors and other development partners to assist in building the capacity and providing farm inputs to the farmers.
Eric Wawire, from Sabatia Sub County supported the idea of diversifying the economic activities so that the residents can venture into unexploited areas.
He stated that although agriculture is the economic mainstay of the county, residents can explore other enterprises such as poultry keeping, dairy farming as well as bee-keeping due to reducing land sizes occasioned by population increase.
The forum also approved the push for among other things universal health coverage, increased funding to the technical and vocational training centres for infrastructure development, improving the roads network as well as fostering agro-processing for socio-economic development.
They said investing in the Technical Vocational Education Training (TVETs) centres would enable school leavers and the public to enroll for various courses for self-employment.
By Sammy Mwibanda
