Agriculture plays a pivotal role in the lives of most Kenyans with close to 70 percent of the population – mainly women – relying on it.
Yet Kenya’s agricultural potential has been low with productivity reported to be on a gradual decline, affecting families, particularly in the rural areas.
Arid and semi-arid areas make up 80 percent of Kenya’s territory, yet their agricultural potential has not been fully utilised.
FAO and the European Union are supporting small-scale women farmers to grow more food and earn more from their crops by adopting conservation agriculture (CA), and linking the farmers to the markets.
Conservation agriculture: what is it and how is it helping Kenyan farmers?
48-year-old Lucy Kigunda is a member of Ithondio women’s group in Imenti North, Meru County, in the central region of Kenya.
More recently, she has started planting sorghum, a grass species cultivated for its grain – used for consumption, animal feed and ethanol production. Its steam can be used as building material and its leaves for animal fodder.