The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has approved a loan to the government of the Republic of Kenya to finance up to USD 156 million for an irrigation development project in the Mwea region.

The ‘Mwea division’ in central Kenya is about 100km northeast of Nairobi, and produces over 50% of Kenya’s rice. The JICA-supported project will strengthen the local capacity to operate, maintain, and manage core irrigation infrastructure. It will also improve irrigation facilities to provide a stable supply of water. The project is expected to enable the double-cropping (two harvests per year) of rice and horticultural crops, as well as expanding the total cultivated area from 7,860 to 16,920 hectares.

Through these efforts, the project aims to improve conditions for food security in Kenya – as well as the livelihoods of farmers. The project is expected to be completed in November 2016.

As most agriculture in Kenya depends upon rainfall, crop production is very dependent on weather conditions. The country has been beset by droughts and food shortages in the past, making the development of irrigation a key development target.

The Yokohama Action Plan put forth at the 4th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) advocated improving Africa's capacity to increase its food production, and improve agricultural productivity. Based on that call to action, JICA is promoting the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD), an initiative to double rice production in Africa within 10 years. Within the CARD initiative, the Kenyan government has set a goal of boosting domestic rice production from 73,000 tons in 2008 to 178,000 tons within 10 years.

The development of the Mwea irrigation area, to which this JICA project contributes, is a national flagship project within the Kenyan government’s ‘Vision 2030’, a long-term national development plan, formulated by the Kenyan government in 2008.