Robert Ndege stands pensively as he admires the lush green field stretching beyond his eyesight.
Two years ago, the 400 acre field was a swamp ruled by sounds of croaking frogs, chirping birds and buzzing insects.
But today, half of it has been turned into rice fields, and 65 year old Ndege is one of the pioneer farmers here.
Residents of Central Karachuonyo Ward in Kogweno Oriang’ in Homa Bay County had never imagined that Ondago swamp would one time turn to be a key source of food security for the region.
Two weeks ago, Mr Ndege was one of the farmers who had the first harvest from the fields.
“For a long time, our forefathers used to hunt here, before eventually turning it into a grazing field,” said Ndege.
“From 1990s, we harvested grass for roofing our houses,” said George Aoko, 68, a resident.
In 2025, Lake Basin Development Agency (LBDA) in partnership with GreenTec began public participation on reclamation of the swamp.
‘With support from the partners, I am hopeful that this farming will not only promote food security, but also create job opportunities to both women and youths in our community’- robbert ndege
About 200 acres of the swamp was curved off for the first phase of the project which saw farming begin in early 2026.
Bumper harvest
And two weeks ago, LBDA Managing Director Wicklife Ochiaga presided over the first harvest, describing the initiative as successful.
Ochiaga said their main objective is to boost food security in the area and possibly create job opportunities thus improving the lives of the residents.
“We had partners who would help with rice seeds, pesticides, farm machines and those that would offer technical advice to the farmers in every stage,” said Ochiaga.
He added; “As LBDA we are offering market to the farmers and so I want to encourage our people to venture in rice farming for more production. This will also create job opportunities to our people.”
Technical support
GreenTec Operations Manager Hellen Orwa noted that the technical support to farmers accorded by the organization went a long way in motivating the farmers to embrace the venture.
“We offer agricultural extension services to the farmers. We walk with them in step by step from the first to the last stage of rice production to help them have high yields,” said Orwa.
“We ensured the Ondago farmers received enough water into their rice farms by opening the water canals. This resulted into high yields,” she added.
“Kwamboka rice is majorly grown in Mwea irrigation scheme. We settled on it due to its semi aromatic and non sticky nature,” she added.
These qualities, she says, would increase market for farmers as many consumers like non sticky and aromatic rice.
“Our main objective was to turn undeveloped land into rice crops field, increase rice yield per acre, and address food security in the area,” revealed Orwa.
The partners had a projection of producing at least three tonnes of rice from the 200 acres.
However, according to Mrs Orwa, they had a surplus production of 0.5 tonnes which she termed as encouraging.
Orwa says their target is to open up the remaining 200 acres come next and so they are inviting other partners to join hands and help sustain the initiative.
“The main challenge we are facing is scarcity of water and birds invasion into the rice plantation,” said Dorothy Awuor, a farmer at the swamp.
The farmers of Ondago farm depends on water from Oluch Kimira water canals for their rice, which the farmers said is not adequate.
“Birds invasion is one of the main challenges we face here. If we can get a way of controlling the birds, I am sure we can reduce losses associated with the birds,” added Awuor.
“Ondago swamp is a communal land and when we were called upon by the LBDA and Greentech take advantage of it for rice production, we did not hesitate, despite being new to rice farming. They explained the whole process to us and what we stand to gain as the community, and here we are,” said Peter Ariwi one of the lead farmers.
“For the start, we were to develop just one acre irregardless of the number of acres one own in the swamp”, he added.
The farmers said that the LBDA and Greentech jointly catered for every production expenses which included; tilling of the land, seeds, planting and weeding expenses.
“As a farmer I provided the land while every other expenses was taken care of by the Greentech. The only cost I incurred was protecting my rice farm from birds invasion since i had to employ some people to be chasing away the birds,” said Ariwi.
“I was able to get 220kg from my one acre rice farm”, he added, with Greentech pledging to provide market for the produce at Sh40 per kilo.
County Executive Member (CECM) for Agriculture Joash Aloo termed the initiative as a boost to food security, adding that the county government will look into attracting more partners to ensure sustainability of the project.
He said the county has also acquired six tractors to help the farmers through their cooperative societies.
“We have established Climate Information Centre where farmers can make toll free calls to seek help and advice on matters agriculture,” he added.
Mr Ndege is hopeful that if fully explored, the swamp will boost the economy of the area.
“With support from the partners, I am hopeful that this farming will not only promote food security, but also create job opportunities to both women and youths in our community,” he said.
