Garissa farmers launch initiative to stop flooding from River Tana

Farmers from Bakuyu at one of the breaking points along River Tana

FARMERS and development partners in Garissa have launched an initiative to prevent soil erosion from River Tana so as to stop flooding in farms.

The initiative is spearheaded by Garissa farmers with support from several partners among them Garissa Township MP Dekow Mohamed, the World Food Programme, Kenya Red Cross, Public Works, the county government and the Kenya Forest Research Institute.

Speaking to the press at Bakuyu, one of the areas that is most affected by the perennial floods, Garissa Township MP Dekow Mohamed disclosed that the farmers already identified four major breaking points of the river that once attended to will serve as a major breakthrough in mitigating the floods.

Dekow said trees will be planted along the river and engineers will help with the design.

“We want to see how we can help the communities downstream and those in the villages, so that we try and mitigate these floods and protect the river from eroding and flowing towards Garissa town."

Dekow regretted that for many years farmers have been incurring huge loses amounting to millions of shillings, with no permanent solution to the perennial problem. He described the initiative as a game changer.

Over 10,000 residents of Balambala, Garissa and Fafi subcounties along River Tana have for years incurred losses following spillage from KenGen’s dams.

Crops, some of which are ready for harvest, are always destroyed and water pumps and pipes to farms are swept away. It becomes difficult to access the farms to harvest the little left behind due to poor roads.

 The MP reiterated that the initiative was not a government project but one which will be spearheaded by Garissa farmers and partners in the county.

Edger Kandiu, an engineer from the WFP, said restoring the river and preventing river bank erosion was part of their ecosystem restoration programme.

“We really want to work with the other partners and the MP to see how best we prevent flooding that has been affecting farmers downstream."

Mohamed Baboya, a farmer from Bakutu, welcomed the initiative, saying it will go along way in solving the perennial flooding problem that affects their farms.

“See, we have abundant arable land and free water. Using a solar-powered pump can help us water our farms at no cost, after we shifted from the costly diesel-powered water pumps. We can feed the entire nation with low-cost farm produce, but we are frequently facing a single threat of the river floods,” he said.

“We are unable to plant crops due to fear of the floods that continue to wreak havoc every rainy season. During the April-May rains last year, we lost several acres of water melons, resulting losses of Sh3 million.”

In a separate interview, Garissa county National Drought Management Authority coordinator Abdinoor Dubow acknowledged the stressful life the local farmers were undergoing as result of the recurring floods.

“The road we have developed is now destroyed, farmers cannot access or transport products. We need to find a lasting solution to mitigate floods,” he said.