Mary Ekuwam, chairperson of Etic Women Group, and other group members display freshly harvested orange-fleshed sweet potatoes on the Nanyee Farm in Loima Constituency, Turkana County. [James Wanzala, Standard]
After a more than 50km drive from Lodwar town through sweltering heat and sandy roads, past manyatta homesteads and market centres, we arrive at Nanyee Irrigation Scheme in Loima Constituency, Turkana County.
At the farm, busy women, men, youth and children use hoes to uproot orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) from their small plots, which measure 4m by 5m, 5m by 5m or 6m by 7 metres.
Some are preparing for the next planting season, while others fetch water or dig waterways to irrigate their plots.
Some women are seen harvesting sweet potato leaves before uprooting the vines.
According to them, the leaves make a good vegetable when cooked with ugali, underscoring the many uses of OFSP.
Inside the Nanyee Arinyot Farm, a three-acre plot, are various crops, including bananas, maize and vegetables such as cowpeas, as well as a few fruit trees, including oranges, mangoes and lemons.
We meet Mary Ekuwam, a widow and mother of eight whose farm is equivalent to seven plots. She is also the chairlady of the Etic Women Group.