Nakuru County government, in collaboration with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) is training over 15000 farmers on proper agronomical practices in farming of a high-yielding and disease-resistant "Nyota" bean seed variety with an eye on the export market.
Agriculture Chief Officer Mr Newton Mwaura said the venture, which is also being supported by International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), targets to help the bean farmers drawn from Njoro, Subukia, Rongai, Bahati and Gilgil Sub-Counties tap into regional and international markets by training them on the mandatory standards their produce is expected to meet in the European Union (EU) and other export markets.
The training is being carried out through the 'Enhancing Climate Change Resilience in East Africa' (ECREA) Project, which is an initiative aimed at improving the resilience of Kenyan farmers, particularly bean producers, to the impacts of climate change by providing them with better access to weather and climate information services (WCIS) through collaborations with research institutions and meteorological services in the region.
The initiative primarily focuses on enhancing the adaptive capacity of East African countries like Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda to extreme weather events and climate change.