At least 130,000 households in Makueni County have benefitted from Sh96 million certified climate resilient seeds donated by the County Government.
The seed consignment consisted of 149 tonnes of maize, sorghum (127), green grams (85) and 40 tonnes of beans which will be distributed to all the 30 wards in the county.
The County Governor Mutula Junior, dispatched all his Executive Committee Members and other top government officials to distribute the seeds to farmers across the region.
Speaking to the media in Wote, the Deputy Governor Lucy Mulili disclosed that the county administration had mapped out the areas, including drier and low rainfall parts like Kibwezi and lower Mbooni, where farmers will receive sorghum and green grams to plant.
She also said that in the cooler and higher rainfall zones like Kilome, Kaiti and parts of Makueni and upper Mbooni, farmers will plant maize and beans.
“As a government, we have embarked on a process to ensure farmers plant certified seeds that can give high yields,” said Mulili.
Among the farmers who benefitted was Ann Mulwa (70) from Kawala village in Makueni Sub-County, who said seed donation was a huge relief to farmers who could not afford to purchase the highly priced seeds at the local Agro-vets.
“A 2 kg packet of maize seed is selling at Sh700, where does an old woman like me get money to buy the commodity?” she posed.
Makueni is among the 23 Arid and Semi-Arid counties where about 246,000 people were currently facing starvation following prolonged drought that has hit the area.
However, the national government has already started to distribute relief food to the needy families in its 9 sub-counties.
By Patrick Nyakundi
