ICRAF reaches out to public at the Machakos Agricultural show

The Machakos Agricultural Show is an annual event that brings together various partners and stakeholders mainly drawn from the Agricultural sector of the economy. During the three-day event, participants get a chance to showcase various developments in the agricultural sector as well as share knowledge about contemporary and traditional farming and environmental conservation methods.

On the 27^th to 29^th June 2013, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) was privileged to participate in the Machakos Agricultural Show that was hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture. ICRAF was provided with a stand as well as a demonstration plot to aid in explaining to the show-goers the various environmental conservation projects that ICRAF is involves in.

At the stand, participants were taught more on on-going activities in the county especially on Conservation Agriculture With Trees (CAWT) under the EverGreen Agriculture project which involves the integration of crop-friendly trees (mainly high value agroforestry tree species and nitrogen fixing trees) into the current conservation agriculture practices.

Conservation Agriculture encompasses three principles namely; minimum tillage, maximum soil cover and crop rotation and association, applied concurrently or singly. The emphasis is the protection of the soil top layer which is responsible for sustaining crop life but is also the most vulnerable to erosion and degradation.

ICRAF was represented by the EverGreen Agriculture project team consisting of Jude Capis, Danyell Odhiambo, Vincent Rabach, Silas Muthuri and Andrew Kanyaru. The team took time to interact with farmers and school children visiting the stand and engaged them in a question and answer session in a bid to share more knowledge.

 Some of the ICRAF products showcased at the stand included: reading materials (books, brochures and posters), tree seedlings (Faidherbia Albida, Gliricidia Sepium, Moringa Oleifera, Leuceana trichandria) as well as CA farming equipment (jab planter, weed scraper and sub-soil rippers). Visitors were particularly interested with the jab planter which they realized was very efficient especially in reducing labor and time needed when planting.

The visitors also admired the concept of ‘fertilizer’ trees which they said could play a fundamental role in saving the world from the adverse long term effects of consuming food crops cultivated using manufactured fertilizers. With regards to accessing the tree seedlings, the visitors were referred to the ICRAF’s Rural Resource Centre (RRC) at Machakos that specializes in breeding a variety of tree species.

The stand attracted more than 500 visitors mostly drawn from educational, government, farming and Faith-based institutions. Generally, the visitors at the stand were very impressed with ICRAF’s interventions in conserving the environment as well as promoting food security in the region. The participants also commended the work done by ICRAF and asked that we continue working with them so as to improve their environment and the application of CAWT method of farming in the region.