Red Cross distributes drought tolerant seeds to Kwale and Kitui farmers

seedfarm Farming News November 22, 2022

The Kenya Red Cross Society distributed drought tolerant seeds to drought-stricken areas as part of their early action protocol in drought mitigation.

“To mitigate the harsh effects that have come with drought, we distributed drought-tolerant seeds in Kwale and Kitui to 1,500 smallholder farmers,” Red Cross said through Twitter.

The society said they have put in place several early action protocols under which there are different anticipatory actions that the society plans to undertake.

The anticipatory actions are guided by the risks, vulnerabilities and hazards that the many communities in the country trying to cope with the harsh drought face.

Because the drought tolerant seeds mature over a shorter period of time, the society hopes the move will help increase food production at a time when rain is increasingly erratic.

The society also carried out rapid assessments in both Kwale and Kitui counties, to determine the communities’ understanding of early action and their information needs for better engagement with the farmers.

This included community review meetings and focus group discussions to get an insight into the farmers’ outlook on farm management, farming input needs.

Also, their experience since adopting the drought-tolerant seeds

Red Cross also does radio spots to create awareness of their Early Action project in a bid to reach more members of the smallholder farming community.

“We do radio spots to create awareness of our Early Action project and climate-smart agriculture practices that they can adopt, to build the resilience of food security systems to climate change,” the society said

Red Cross hopes they will walk with the farmers to when they harvest from the drought-tolerant seeds.