日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / China-Africa

China-built water project revives Kenya's farmlands

By SHARON NAKOLA in Nairobi, Kenya | China Daily Global | Updated: 2025-05-23 09:43
Share
Share - WeChat
An aerial view of the head works of the Chinese-built Lower Nzoia Irrigation Project. WANG YUXI/CHINA DAILY

Along the sun-drenched banks of River Nzoia in western Kenya, a quiet transformation is taking root. Fields that once lay bare, scorched by droughts and battered by unpredictable floods, now flourish with rows of thriving crops, nurtured by the steady waters of newly built irrigation canals.

At the heart of this change is the Lower Nzoia Irrigation Project, the biggest of its kind in Kenya, built by China's Sinohydro Corporation. The 250-kilometer Nzoia River is a major tributary of Lake Victoria and supports millions of people in western Kenya.

For local farmer Henry Odhiambo, these changes are more than visible — they are deeply personal. After years of working in South Sudan, he quit his job and returned to his home in Siaya County, drawn by the promise of this transformative project.

"I left my work in South Sudan to come home and do farming," Odhiambo says, standing amid neat rows of black nightshade vegetables. "This area, once bushy and neglected, is now alive. We have water, we have crops, and soon, we will have stable incomes."

For decades, communities along River Nzoia have lived with uncertainty. The land's potential was crippled by its reliance on rain-fed farming, with erratic weather patterns leaving families vulnerable. Today, thanks to global cooperation and modern infrastructure, hope is once again taking root in the soil.

The project is no ordinary infrastructure undertaking. It is a lifeline for more than 12,000 farming households, designed to irrigate 8,000 hectares of farmland — 4,000 in its first phase, scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, and another 4,000 to follow.

"This is the first crop," Odhiambo says, pointing to his vegetable fields. "After this, we'll rotate to other crops to improve the soil and increase our earnings. This is not just farming; it's a business now."

In many other African countries also, lack of irrigation poses a major challenge to agricultural production and food security. Although agriculture is a pillar sector in Kenya, only 5 percent of the country's total arable land is under irrigation, says Eric Mugaa, Kenya's cabinet secretary for water, sanitation and irrigation.

With the implementation of the irrigation project, many farmers in Siaya along the river shared their optimism with Odhiambo.

"Before this project, we had to buy vegetables and other food," Florence Aoko Oduor says. "Now, we can grow our own. It's feeding our families and our livestock. The water has changed everything."

Oduor says that with abundant water, the Chinese-built canal near her home will enable her to transition from subsistence to a profitable farming venture.

Peter Onyango Okola, a village official in Siaya, leads a group of more than 650 farmers who have felt the project's effects.

"We now have access to water through the canal, which has changed everything," he says. "Our fields are no longer at the mercy of the weather. This will improve food security and create employment for many families."

At the core of the project's success is a comprehensive approach to modern agriculture. Miriam Otipa, the project's senior agronomist, explains that this is not just about increasing food production — it is about connecting farmers to sustainable markets.

"For the past five years, we've educated farmers and organized them into groups," she says. "They now select crops based on soil suitability, ensuring higher yields."

Market opportunities

To create dependable market opportunities, the project has partnered with an off-taker who supplies farmers with seeds, fertilizers and crop protection products — and will later purchase the harvest for sale in nearby Kisumu city.

"Farmers are no longer growing just to eat. They're growing to earn," Otipa says. "With irrigation, they can harvest up to three times a year, compared to just once with rain-fed farming. That means more food, more income and more opportunities."

For the project that started in 2018 aiming to mitigate floods and increase the acreage of land under irrigation in western Kenya, the technical backbone was no small feat. Francis Mburu, the resident engineer for the irrigation project, recalls the obstacles faced during construction.

Drainage posed one hurdle in project implementation. The original design included just nine drainage canals, which proved inadequate.

"We increased that number to 76," Mburu says. "This has solved water-logging issues and protected the canal infrastructure."

Wang Jianfei, a Chinese engineer for the project, says it has created jobs, increased local incomes and even reduced crime. "We're seeing a safer, more hopeful community emerge."

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 久久精品国产一区二区三区不卡 | 在线看免费观看日本 | 久久在线播放 | 成人理论 | 亚洲一区播放 | 欧美精品一区二区三区在线播放 | 欧美激情刺激爽免费视频观看 | 久操免费在线视频 | 亚洲精品AV无码喷奶水糖心 | 久久久久亚洲 | 亚洲男人的天堂网站 | 亚洲欧美激情另类 | 色偷偷影院| 久久久国产精品免费A片蜜臀 | 亚洲视频国产一区 | 天天干天天插天天操 | 欧美日韩精品一区二区三区视频 | 国产区免费| 午夜视频国语 | 午夜精品老牛av一区二区三区 | 久久久久琪琪免费影院 | 久久最新| 国产高清一区二区 | 成人婷婷 | 99久久精品免费 | 国产精品爽爽va在线观看网站 | 五月天91 | 国产成人精品一区二区三区电影 | 波多野结衣一区二区三区 | 秦浩最新电视剧 | 成人网免费视频 | 日本免费观看网站 | 天天做夜夜操 | 夜夜骚| 成人在线免费观看网站 | 国产 AV 仑乱内谢 | 中文字幕精品一区二区三区精品 | 欧美一级毛片欧美大尺度一级毛片 | 欧美三级成版人版在线观看 | 咪咪色在线视频 | 日韩国产成人资源精品视频 |