The government of Kenya has funded construction of 27 boreholes and water retention basins set to benefit Galole constituency located in Tana River County.
The fundings fall under “Small Irrigation and Value Addition Project”(Sivap) which will be implemented in several phases. In the first phase, 12 “shallow” boreholes will be constructed to supply water to small-scale farmers. This phase of the project will also construct three water retention ponds in the Chifiri, Hakoka and Gururi areas of Galole.
This constituency is located in Tana River County, which is now on drought alert, according to the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) drought bulletin issued in July 2021. The Kenyan government estimates that the work will cost 150 million Kenyan shillings, $1.35 million.
Improves access to markets
The remaining 15 boreholes will be completed in the second phase of the project. In the district, an access road and a cattle yard will also be built, as well as two markets in the Galole catchment area. The Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries is leading the irrigation project.
The completion of work in Galole should also mark the completion of Sivap, which was launched in 2015. The African Development Bank (AfDB) is co-financing the water facilities with the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP). In addition to the boreholes, Savip has contributed to the construction and rehabilitation of 12 irrigation schemes on 3,205 hectares in 11 counties in Kenya (Tana River, Makueni, Kajiado, Machakos, Bomet, Tharaka Nithi, Meru, Nyeri, Nyandarua, and Kitui), benefiting 656,112 farmers. The initiative also improves access to markets, agricultural processing technologies, post-harvest storage and handling, nutrition, and institutional and human capacity building.
