Musyoka Kivungi on his okra farm in Makueni County. He taps surface runoff from a road that passes near his farm, using a rudimentary canal that directs the water into the pond on his farm
Visitors driving along the all-weather Makindu-Athi Kiaoni Road, which links Makueni and Kitui counties, always look in wonder at the village’s leafy green crops in the sun-baked region.
This is especially in Kilongoni village in the leeward side of Kilema hill, where like an oasis in a desert, Musyoka Kivungi’s farm stands out.
The farmer grows fruits and vegetables irrigating the crops using surface runoff that he usually collects into a sprawling pond in his homestead whenever it rains.
Ukambani receives between 500 and 800mm of rainfall annually, according to the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA).
Agrifoodkenya finds the senior Makueni county government official inspecting an onion crop that was ready for harvesting.
“Our resolve was to make this place habitable. This has been attained and surpassed since we now grow cabbages, sukuma wiki, okra, tomatoes and onions all-year round,” Kivungi, the chief officer at the county’s department of devolution, explained to the AgrifodKenya.
Kivungi’s work on the 12-acre farm, which is always a beehive of activity, entails closely supervising workers, who at any one point are either preparing seedbeds, installing nurseries, translocating seedlings, weeding various plots or harvesting produce.
On average, he harvests 25 tonnes of onions per acre making a tidy sum from each harvest as a kilo goes for up to Sh80, a feat which he credits on the readily available water, suitable soils and hard work.
Traders from Nairobi flock his farm for the commodity, with the remainder being bought by small traders who deal in vegetables.
Kivungi taps surface runoff from a road that passes near his farm, using a rudimentary canal that directs the water into the pond on his farm. The water passes through three small ‘check dams’ to prevent the silting of the main dam.
To ensure that the pond loses as little water as possible, it is designed deep and covered with an extensive net to minimise water loss through evaporation.
“My pond is 30 metres by 25 metres and is 14 feet deep,” he says, noting the water harvesting technology is called farm pond.
From the pond, he pumps the water through a pipe to the several plots hosting different crops including okra, fruits and vegetables throughout out the year. The crops are irrigated using a drip system.
The rainwater harvesting bug bit Kivungi in 2014 after the county government
