The Elgeyo Marakwet County Government has announced plans to establish a 6 million seedlings nursery at the Chebara Agricultural Training College (ATC) by the end of this year, in a move aimed at boosting access to quality seedlings for farmers across the county. According to County Executive for Agriculture Edwin Kibor, the nursery will produce avocado, coffee, and tea seedlings, ensuring that farmers in all 20 wards can access planting material as part of the county’s wealth creation policy.
“As a department, we have therefore decided to put up a mega nursery at Chebara ATC so that our farmers can access seedlings,” Kibor said. He explained that while farmers have embraced cash crop farming, a lack of adequate seedlings has slowed progress. The initiative seeks to bridge this gap and enhance agricultural productivity.
Kibor further said that the county would partner with the Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) to supply mango seedlings to farmers in the Kerio Valley. He urged the youth and women groups to take advantage of the opportunity by starting their nurseries, noting that the county has allocated funds in the current financial year for the purchase of seedlings.
Farmers in the highlands will focus on avocado and tea, those in the escarpment will plant coffee, while those in the Kerio Valley will cultivate mangoes.
Kibor added that the initiative is key to tackling the county’s high poverty levels, currently at 50 per cent.
“With the planting of the cash crops in the different ecological zones in the county, farmers will now be able to meet their financial needs. We don’t have to rely on bursaries to pay school fees for our children, we will also comfortably pay for SHA,” he opined.
He added that the program would also support conservation efforts, particularly in reducing the risk of landslides.
“With agroforestry, the county will not only improve the economy, but it will also help in conservation efforts, thus preventing loss of lives and properties as a result of landslides, which normally affect the area when it rains,” Kibor said.
