• Reference: P-KE-AAZ-001
• Approval date: 31/05/2006
• Start date: 20/10/2006
• Appraisal Date: 15/11/2005
• Status: OngoingOnGo
• Implementing Agency: LAKE BASIN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
• Location: Rachounyo and HomaBay Disctricts

i) Irrigation System Development and Management comprising of three sub-components; a) Formation of Water Users Association; b) Irrigation scheme development and management, and c) environmental mitigation and monitoring. This component will facilitate formation of Irrigation Water Users Associations to efficiently manage the schemes, up to 97 small associations will be established and combined based on the scheme location to form two IWUA.; facilitate development of irrigation, drainage and road networks including associated civil and hydraulic structures up to about 1,474 ha of land will be irrigated, 88 km of feeder roads constructed, carry out environmental mitigation and monitoring measures to ensure full compliance with Kenya and the Bank Group requirements.

ii) Marketing and Extension: comprising three sub-components: a) Support to farmers; training farmers in entrepreneurial skills, good crop husbandry practices, quality control, irrigation system management involving up to 400,000 households using farmers field school approach. b) Support to extension workers; up to 120 extension Staff will be trained based on the training needs assessment report; and c) Market linkages; this will enhance and incorporate small scale producers into local, regional and global supply chains through innovative technical interventions in the field as well as market analysis; Linkages with commercial buyers, training through partnerships with buyers using service providers with various skills, market identification; local, Regional and overseas markets to get about 400,000 households access to potential markets, via commodity groups, including quality control and timing of production to hit peak market prices.

iii) Project Coordination: This component will ensure efficient and effective implementation of the Project through provision of national technical assistance to form the Project Coordination Team (PCT). The PCT will be accountable to the stakeholders through effective milestone-based participatory monitoring and evaluation system.

5.PROJECT COSTS

The Project cost is estimated at UA 27.77 million of which UA 16.84 million (60.60%) will be in foreign exchange and UA 10.93 million (39.40 %) will be local currency.

The overall objective of the project is to induce sustainable and improved income levels for the rural households in the project area and thus help in alleviating poverty, which is the fundamental socio-economic problem in the area. The aim is to increase agricultural productivity through support to farm households to make productive use of irrigation on their land with appropriate crops and better crop husbandry systems and facilitate in the spearheading of marketing of their produce to more lucrative markets.

For Kenya's economy to grow, to increase employment and decrease poverty agriculture productivity and competitiveness must be increased significantly. The government of Kenya has clearly recognized this in the 2003 ERS for wealth and employment creation. Growth in the raison d'etre for the strategy for revitalizing Agriculture (SRA) (2004-2014), launched jointly by Ministry of agriculture and Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries development in March 2004 and subsequently endorsed by the Ministry of Cooperatives development and Marketing. The Kenyan Government's Strategy for Revitalising Agriculture SRA articulated the need for a paradigm shift for the sector. The overall objective of the SRA are to raise household incomes, create employment and ensure food and nutrition security. The proposed project's objectives are in line with the Bank's Group ADF lending policy for the agricultural sector i.e., improving productivity, enhancing incomes and providing raw material for industry

The project benefits will result from higher yields and gross margins and from higher cropping intensities, as well as from a flexible irrigation system that allows farmers to grow a large range of crops, particularly vegetables. Individual progressive farmers in the project area will achieve higher yields albeit on small plots. The irrigated area per farm should be on average 0.5 ha or about 38% of the average holding size. Up to 400,000 households will benafit from extension and market linkges to enable them produce and access markets.

MAINA Onesmus Waweru - OSAN1

Finance source	Amount
ADF	UAC 24,132,324
Delta	UAC 3,637,676
Total	UAC 27,770,000