Bomet Governor Prof. Hillary Barchok led officers from the Departments of Agriculture, Environment, and other local leaders in distributing over 19,500 Avocado seedlings to four farmers groups spread across Silibwet Township, Singorwet, Chesoen and Ndarawetta wards of Bomet Central Sub County.

This vital undertaking is part of the Financing Locally-Led Climate Action (FLLoCA) program, a collaborative effort by the Kenyan government and the World Bank aimed at bolstering community resilience against climate change impacts.

Speaking during the exercise, Governor Barchok expressed his optimism that the venture will not only empower the farmers economically, but will also mitigate the far-reaching effects of the Climate Change phenomenon.

“We have put in place measures to ensure that the seedlings we are planting today will all grow to maturity because we have deployed enough Agricultural Extension Officers to help our farmers in Avocado farming”, said the governor.

The governor further urged other farmers not registered in any group to come together and form groups to enable them access government support programs and to enhance their bargaining power for their farm produce.

This distribution underscores the county’s commitment to empowering communities to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices and resources to enhance food security, improve livelihoods, and contribute to environmental sustainability.

Other than Avocados, these four wards have also been given projects like fish bonds and spring protection courtesy of FLLoCA.

Sonokwek setkobor with 180 members from Ndarawetta ward received 5400 seedlings, Chemogoi farmers group with 172 members from Chesoen ward got 5,160 seedlings, Koyumi group with 188 members from Silibwet Township ward got 3,780 seedlings while Mokito from Singorwet ward received 3,780 seedlings.

The governor was flanked by DG Shadrack Rotich, CECs, COs, MCAs Leonard Rotich (Chesoen), Dancel Kirui ( Ndarawetta) Josphat Kurgat (Singorwet) and Ann Mutai (Silibwet Township) during his working tour of Bomet Central Sub County.