Deputy Governor Dr. John Erus this evening held a meeting with a delegation from Tear Fund UK, led by East Ham MP Stephen Timms Creswell, who is also the ambassador for the organization.
During the meeting, Mr. Creswell, who was accompanied by representatives from local partner Anglican Development Service (ADS) explained his role as an ambassador for the charity organization and the delegation’s objective of understanding the priorities and needs of Turkana residents.
Dr. Erus informed the delegation about the challenges faced by residents of Turkana but emphasized the existing enormous potential for change.
“Due to our location, Turkana County is faced with enormous challenges but also we possess tremendous potential. Due to climate change and the shrinking natural resources, we are exploring sustainable solutions to the challenges of water shortage and food insecurity,” he said.
The sustainable solutions include developing groundwater potential and partnerships for desalination.
He also expressed the county’s commitment to growing skills in climate-smart agriculture and revealed great insights learnt from his recent visit to Israel about digitized agriculture.
The Deputy Governor stated that the county government is eager to put 10,000 acres of land under crop production, which will utilize drip irrigation.
He praised Tear Fund’s relief support, through ADS, which includes a programme to support 1750 households with relief food every month. He informed the delegation that the county had increased relief food rations and budgeted for a further Sh300 million for the next phase of relief response.
Dr. Erus expressed gratitude for the support of development partners, including the UK government, and emphasized the important role of faith-based organizations in providing crucial services to Turkana residents before devolution.
MCAs James Ikeny and Michael Epem (Kalokol) attended the meeting.
Accompanying MP Creswell was his wife Hui-Leng Lim and a team from ADS led by the National Executive Director Bwibo Adieri.
