Rotary Club of Middleton help Kajuki and Tharaka water and food projects

Francis Machira’s farm planted with maize in Zai Pits, small water harvesting pits

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St. Peter’s Kajuki and Tharaka Water and Food Economic Community Based Organisation (CBO) was founded in 2006.

Members of St Peter’s Kajuki Catholic Parish, the local leaders, and the Rotary Club of Meru members sought to find ways of eradicating extreme hunger, perennial famine and abject poverty rampant in Kajuki area while providing water for their crops and livestock.

A foot bridge was built to link Mutino Community and Kajuki because the health centre is in Kajuki and St Peter’s Catholic Primary School and Polytechnic, Kajuki Market, Kajuki Secondary School and Catholic Church are over the river in Mutino.

With assistance of Rotarian John Brooker of Rotary Club of Middleton, the bridge project secured funding from Rotary Foundation and it was implemented to completion during the same year.

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/74720/rotary-club-of-middleton-project-to-provide-irrigation-in-kajuki

The project committee continued with its planning meetings on the irrigation water project.

The two areas experience frequent rain failure that result to severe drought, famine and acute food shortage, a situation that has contributed to the area’s high poverty levels, chronic hunger, extreme food shortage and high school drop out.

Rotarian Peter Hayward, of Rotary Club of Middleton, took the lead in fundraising in Britain to raise money that would be used to implement an irrigation water project.

In collaboration with the financial support of Rotarian Peter Hayward, the project committee continued with its planning and it was decided that food security and sustainable farming was crucial by harvesting and storing road run off water, storing it into the already dug and cemented water pans and using it for micro and drip irrigation.

The project area was also expanded to cover some Tharaka areas where Rotary Club of Meru was already implementing rain water harvesting by rock catchment dams which are developed from a rock outcrop to catch and concentrate rainwater runoff into a storage structure for productive use.

https://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/87114/middleton-rotary-club-wins-rain-catchment-grant

• In Kajuki, the project benefits 400 households and over 30,000 people
• In Tharaka, the project is benefiting 80 households and over 12,000 people 
• In Nthiere and Tunyai areas, 80 households and over 12,000 people
• In Mwerera and Gakurungu areas, 40 households 
• In Gituma areas over 600 people 

To date, all the target 600 household members have been trained in sustainable and organic farming, leadership and management skills, mediation, peace building and conflict resolution, HIV/AIDS, guidance and counselling.