Progress Report: Two Years Of Devolution

It seemed a far dream when Mandera two years ago set out to blend its high temperatures, sun-scorched soils, seasonal rivers and spotty rain into tonnes of juice. Well, it is bearing fruits.

Thanks to Sh1 billion investment in agricultural development, Mandera County’s dreams of being the foremost fruit producer in Kenya are well on course. It is no longer a story. It is reality. Flying over the farms on the banks of River Daua attests to this. Lush green, heavy pawpaw, ripe guava and giant banana trees sway to the desert wind as if to acknowledge the surprised looks peering from above.

According to the County’s executive member for agriculture and irrigation, Mr Mohamed Omar Absiye, as of February 2015, the County Government had distributed seedlings of desert- hardy fruit varieties to farmers reinvigorated by irrigation. Mr Absiye says these include 4,800 grafted mango seedlings, 3,600 tissue culture banana seedlings, 1,200 pawpaw seedlings, 1,200 grafted oranges seedlings, 1,200 lemon seedlings and 1,200 quava seedlings. The County is already exporting watermelons to Nairobi.

An orchard is mature in the County’s demonstration farm near Mandera town and a re-energised extension services to farmers across the six sub counties, combined with provision of seedlings is seeing through a fruit revolution in the 25,798 square kilometer county of more than a million residents.

The sweet Mandera story is not just in fruits. Its agricultural diversity is seeing the development of value crops including sim sim, sunflower, tomatoes, kales, onions, millet, sorghum, nerica rice, cassava, cowpeas and local vegetables. That the two-year progress is magical shows as Governor Ali Roba’s face lightens as he adjust his seat to tell the farming story. “When we settled down to start the County Government in 2013, all farms along the river had been abandoned and taken over by weeds. Through provision of subsidy fertilizer, seeds and irrigation, the farmers are back and motivated,” he says.

The Governor’s vision is to nature a market oriented agricultural production in Mandera, a dream that has the county leadership develop a plan that will see establishment of infrastructure and investment to spur value addition right within the county. Recognising that Mandera has been marginalized for half a century in addition to challenges such as insecurity and distance from ports, the County has a strategy that will see it absorb initial risk for agro-investors through a invest-run divest approach.

Initial studies show that it has a potential market of 3.5 million to 4.5 million people living across three regional boundaries in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Infrastructural investment, including an international airport, is already ongoing to tap this market potential. An aspect of this, the fruit-processing factory, will come on stream by February 2016.

“In 10 years’ time Mandera will be fully food sufficient. The time frame would have been shorter if we had more resources,” Mr Roba asserts. Mr Absiye says of the Sh950 million they have invested in the sector over the two years, they have made sure more than 50 per cent – Ksh515 million – goes into development expenditure rather than recurrent.

Progress Report: Two years of Devolution

An orchard is mature in the County’s demonstration farm near Mandera town and a re-energised extension services to farmers across the six sub counties, combined with provision of seedlings is seeing through a fruit revolution in the 25,798 square kilometer county of more than a million residents. Capt Ali Ibrahim Roba - The Governor Omar Mohamed Maalim- Deputy Governor

Big strides despite the challenges in security

The first Deputy Governor of Mandera County Omar Mohammed Maalim says Mandera County is slowly but sure meetings its dreams of devolution. He says the ambitious aspirations set out in the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) are being implemented and the county government has a committed leadership and team spirit to do it.

We are keen on transforming the county into a regional business hub and fruit producer. We have invested a big chunk of our budgets to building modern roads, constructing a regional livestock market, a fruit processing factory, and turning around health and education sectors among others. “Our county has a lot of challenges. But we are slowly turning them into opportunities. We are implementing our strategic plans to deliver life-changing services to our people. The sky is the limit for this Administration.”

World Bank ranked our county, as among the top performers and despite security challenges posed by Al-Shabaab we are course to delivering on the promises we made to the electorate. The Deputy Governor says the team works hard— from the Governor, himself to the Members of the County Assembly—and that remains a strength that not many counties enjoy. “We consult widely on various issues and resolve differences in an inclusive manner,” he adds. He says a blend of different skills among the top leadership is delivering great results. The governor comes on board with a wealth of experience from the private sector, and thus brings management expertise while his deputy has a strong background in the civil society specialising on improving lives—just the right mix for a county that has been marginalised since independence.

“Livestock is the livelihood of our pastoralists. That’s why we have a major rolled out water provision services across the county and improved vaccination and watering troughs services as we build a regional livestock market. To attract investors the county government is making the business environment conducive.” He says Mandera is a virgin investment region and they are taking lessons from remote countries, which have turned themselves into industrial hubs. “There are opportunities such as a growing population that provides market and labour, two international borders and even raw materials for certain industries,” he says. Big strides despite the challenges