The government will rehabilitate three small dams in Nandi County to improve irrigation water access, boost food production and enhance farmers’ livelihoods.

Principal Secretary for Irrigation Ephantus Kimotho announced the programme on 16 October during an inspection of Ndalat Dam in Mosop Constituency, noting years of inadequate maintenance had reduced the dam’s functionality.

The inspection delegation included officials from the State Department for Irrigation, the National Irrigation Authority, Irrigation Secretary Joel Tanui, NIA CEO Charles Muasya, Deputy Governor Yulitah Mitei Cheruiyot and Mosop MP Abraham Kirwa.

Ndalat Dam, built in the colonial era, suffers from heavy silt buildup, papyrus and reed overgrowth, missing spillway and eroded embankments, raising safety concerns for nearby homes and farms.

Rehabilitation work will remove silt and vegetation, stabilise eroded embankments and construct a properly sized spillway with downstream erosion protection.

The upgraded Ndalat Dam holds a 1.5‑acre reservoir with an estimated 25,000 cubic‑metre capacity, and the project will extend irrigation to 17 acres, directly benefiting 68 households.

Local farmers currently cultivate tea, coffee, cereals and horticultural crops; reliable supplemental irrigation is expected to reduce reliance on rainfall, diversify production and improve market supply.

The rehabilitation is also projected to create construction‑phase jobs and generate longer‑term economic opportunities once the irrigation scheme is operational.

The dam upgrades form part of a broader government programme to expand smallholder irrigation, strengthen climate resilience and improve food and nutrition security nationwide.