Drip irrigation… What more does kenya need?

The irrigation start up, Dripsol Company  proved that young entrepreneurs can venture into the agribusiness chain and thrive despite there being other major players. The just concluded Tony Elumelu forum saw them benefit with seed capital to scale their business further by providing drip irrigation solutions to further geographical regions in Kenya. This stamped their authority in the Kenyan market.

This recognition of potential by an international competition has exposed the importance of improved and efficient water usage among farmers using affordable technological interventions like drip irrigation. Most of the land is arid in Kenya but this should not deter farmers from exploiting the land sustainably especially if it is near surface water bodies and if the aquifers are relatively shallower. This exploitation will in turn improve food security in the country. It is however notable that there is need for intervention, innovation and investment by the government and other stakeholders in the the storage part of the agricultural chain so that surplus can be effectively stored for longer periods to maintain market balance. Tax exemptions in some farming inputs would also be very helpful to farmers as the production costs are very high.

There also exists low level professionalism  in local farming, agronomists and other related cadres are either not present or have been replaced by sales men from agrichemical companies who are giving farmers biased advice looking out to make a sale. Small holder farmers themselves are not organised hence their needs and interests are not fully represented at policy levels thus poor policies by the government when it comes agricultural produce imports especially common commodities like eggs.

Investment in agribusiness in Kenya at the moment is worthwhile but most of the issues above need to be well addressed to make the industry thrive well in the future. Would you want a drip irrigation installation? fill in the form below: