iii)   Improved Grain Storage  (Metal silo storage technology) One of the reasons that force farmers to sell their farm produce immediately after harvest in Kitui is the fact that they have no long term means to store their grains. As a result, the diocese has come up with an improved storage project using metal silos, locally known as “Kiinga”, which can store grains for a very long period, under very minimum care, a project funded by Farm-Africa, through CRS.   This project covers entire Diocese (The four Districts of Kitui Mwingi, Kyuso and Mutomo).   The metallic silos are made at the Diocesan workshop, after which, the farmers can access them at a low cost. The Diocese has 2 artisans (Based in Kitui and Mutomo) who have been trained on the fabrication of the silos.   The size of the metal silo depends on the needs of the farmer. Thus they are of different sizes, ranging from a 20 kilograms’ silo; 50 kg; one (90 kg) bag silo… up to 25 (90kg) bags silos.   In order to educate farmers about the need of the silo as a neo-storage equipment, usage, and its maintenance; three demonstration sites have been put up, at Kimangau (Serving Mwingi), Mulutu (serving Kitui) and Ikanga (Serving Mutomo), and now, two more sites are to be set at Migwani (Mwingi) and Mutomo (Mutomo).   However, this project has not been very successful as expected, due to adverse weather conditions. This means that farmers have not produced much grain to make them develop the need for this metal silo, despite all its advantages of safely storing grains over a long period.   Also due to high production cost of the metal silos, its pricing is high beyond the reach f many people. However, diocese has initiated a support programme whereby, a farmer may be granted a 60% ‘Loan’ of the cost of the silo, thus paying 40%. This ‘Loan” is payable for a period of six months, a period which may be increased to one year in the near future so as to enable more people to afford the silos. (BACK)