KVDA spends Ksh100M in drilling boreholes in Drought stricken KerioValley

By Dianah Chelagat

Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) has set aside Ksh100 million for the drilling of boreholes in Kerio Valley.

According to the KVDA  Managing Director  Sammy Naporos, this will help areas adversely affected by drought.

“As an Authority, we have set aside Ksh 100 million for the drilling of boreholes in areas that have been affected by drought due to the failure of rains for the last three years. This will help the affected people to get water for their families and animals” Said the KVDA Managing Director who officially closed the Eldoret National Show on Saturday.

Naporos said currently the government has been providing food  aid  to the affected families in Kerio Valley among other  parts of the country worst  hit  by  drought.

The KVDA boss  noted that advancement of technology will help farmers to save water and cultivate plants that will mature after a short period of time giving them enough harvest that will upend their reliability on food aid .

“The advancement of technology will help farmers to store water and cultivate plants that take a short period to mature therefore giving them enough food. With the new technology cases of drought and famine will be a thing of the past as  has  been demonstrated in this  year’s Eldoret National Show whose them was dubbed –Promoting Climate Smart Agriculture and Trade Initiatives for Sustainable Economic Growth,” Naporos opined.

He further revealed that the current  drought has not affected the production of honey in Kerio valley.

“The ongoing drought has not affected  honey production because we only need little water for flowers on the trees so that the bees can get nectar to produce honey,however  most of  our  bee  farmers have relocated  from their  homes and if  it  does not rain in the next three months we could  see  a  reduction in the honey we buy from farmers at our  Rokocho honey Factory In Elgeiyo Marakwet ” he added.

Kerio valley region is well known for large-scale quality  honey production.

The Honey factory processes over  150 tons of  raw  honey  and last year  bee farmers received  over Ksh 60M from  KVDA.

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Eldoret Media Hub

Eldoret Media Hub, a working space for journalists based in Uasin Gishu County set up by the Uasin Gishu Journalists Association (UGJA) through a Media Council of Kenya (MCK) grant.
The facility was officially opened in August 2021 by the MCK Chief Executive Officer David Omwoyo.

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