Shining Hope for communities (SHOFCO) on Monday defended its petition that seeks National Assembly to pass a legislation to enable the agricultural sector benefit from the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) to develop irrigation infrastructure in dry areas across Kenya.

Appearing before Public Petitions Committee (PPC) Chaired by Turbo Member of Parliament Janet Jepkemoi Sitienei, SHOFCO team led by the organisation’s Advocacy Lead Boniface Gatobu said the petition, if adopted, will boost the agricultural sector and address the problems of poverty, hunger, and unemployment in Kenya.

“If this petition is adopted, then food insecurity will be a thing of the past. We have areas in this country which are fertile, but does not get enough rain for productive agriculture. We, therefore, need to change the law to allow the agricultural sector to benefit from the RMLF,” Gatobu said in his defence for the petition.

Gatobu said SHOFCO works in 40 counties across Kenya and has seen areas that can benefit from the fund if the petition goes through.

“Why do we have to develop a road that can serve a few people with cars when we can use the money to build dams that can benefit many farmers? As much as a road is important, we also need to diversify the RMLF money to ensure that we give Kenyans an opportunity to grow food that can be exported to generate for us revenue as a country. We can do this by ensuring that we have enough irrigation infrastructure across Kenya,” he stated.

PPC Vice Chair Hon. Sitienei sought to know why the organization did not seek funds from the Water and Irrigation Ministry before moving to amend the RMLF Act.

“We know that this is a water function under the Ministry of Water and funds are appropriated to National Irrigation Authority (NIA) to do the job. Why is it that you need RMLF, which is created under a statute and has its own structures, to draw money and it has no relationship with NIA?” Hon Sitienei posed.

Gatobu responded: “Every project that SHOFCO does is generated from a need from the community. Upon evaluation of the feedback we got from the community, we found that agriculture is a silver bullet that we can use to address hunger, youth unemployment and high cost of living. For instance, ABC-Redhill Ring Road project cost the government Ksh4 billion and it’s serving about 5000 cars daily while Thiba Dam in Kirinyaga County is serving 50,000 rice farmers. This is why we need Parliament to reallocate the resources. Yes, roads are good, but we need a portion of the RMLF money to boost our agricultural sector that has much more impact on ordinary Kenyans.”

In the petition, SHOFCO also wants the Irrigation Act (No. 14 of 2019), the Kenya Roads Board Act (No. 7 of 1999), the Road Maintenance Levy Fund Act (No. 9 of 1993) and all other relevant laws be amended.

“Change the ‘Road Maintenance Levy Fund’ to ‘Infrastructure Development and Maintenance Levy Fund’ so that part of the fund can be used to develop irrigation infrastructure in all parts of Kenya and therefore boost the agricultural sector. Have the National Irrigation Authority become a beneficiary of the new ‘Infrastructure Development and Maintenance Levy Fund’ alongside Kenya Rural Roads Authority, Kenya Urban Roads Authority and Kenya National Highways Authority,” the petition read in part.

At the same time, the organisation wants NIA to share the funds it gets from the new ‘Infrastructure Development and Maintenance Levy Fund’ equally among all the 290 constituencies.

“This Petition aims at having each constituency receive at least Ksh100 million from the new ‘Infrastructure Development and Maintenance Levy Fund’ through the National Irrigation Authority to ensure various irrigation projects in all the 290 constituencies benefit from the funds and the overall agricultural productivity of the Republic of Kenya is boosted,” the petition added.

According to the Kenya Economic Survey of 2022 by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the agricultural sector contributed 22.4% to Kenya’s GDP and is the largest sector in the country. SHOFCO has been supporting farmers in Rift Valley, Western Kenya, Nyanza and Coast regions.

In March 2023, over 50,000 farmers in Trans Nzoia, Siaya, Kisumu and Nyeri counties benefitted from the organisation’s certified maize seeds worth over Ksh 50 million. SHOFCO Founder and CEO Dr. Kennedy Odede last month alone launched 40 water pans in Siaya County that have assisted farmers to practice irrigation agriculture.

“Embracing agroecology, fish farming and sustainable farming practices is not just about feeding families today, it’s about securing a resilient future for future generations. I was impressed to see farmers practising irrigation agriculture, hence making use of drylands that were initially unproductive,” he said when he launched the water pans.

The organization has constructed 157 water pans across Kenya as part of its pilot program to assist farmers in dry areas to practice smart farming.