Eastern Province Horticulture and Traditional Food Crops Project

This is an “old-style” multisector project that focuses on improving access to water and promoting horticulture and food crops. The project has been extended to compensate for initial implementation delays. This will allow for completion of irrigation works and give farmers the opportunity to benefit from technical support for a one-year period after construction is complete.

The project covers eight districts of the Eastern Province: Embu, Machakos, Makueni, Mbeere, Meru Central, Meru North, Meru South and Tharaka. It is a core project of the Ministry of Agriculture, which is the lead implementing agency responsible for overall project management and coordination. The project is in line with government policy on food security and income-generation outlined in the Food Policy Paper (1994), the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (2001), and the recently launched Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation 2003-2007. It is also in line with the government’s Strategy for the Revitalization of Agriculture.

The project’s overall goal is to improve smallholders’ income and food security in the project area through increased production of smallholder horticultural and traditional food crops. Its specific objectives are to:

• promote rational use of natural resources, especially water for irrigation
• disseminate appropriate crop packages, especially for dry areas
• strengthen and reorient support services
• support beneficiary participation in planning and development

Source: IFAD