NAIROBI, May 14 (Xinhua) -- In an under-populated village located 68 kilometres southeast of Nairobi, Kenya's capital city, lies a farm with endless stretches of green interspaced by towering water tanks.

The nearly three-acre farm is ever drawing interest from local residents owing to its high-yielding capabilities.

This is despite being situated in a region that has for decades received minimal rainfall. Vincent Mulunje, the farm owner, terms it as self-sufficient because of its capacity to produce nearly all its input as well as its efficiency in utilizing waste.

"Every equipment, animal, and plant present is not by chance. I selected them after accessing their individual benefits and their ability to work as a single unit that will sustain itself," said Mulunje at his farm.

"The scat from cow, goats, and chicken is collected and constitutes composite manure, foliage from the farm which are unsellable are fed to the herbivores while water from the wells ensures the crops receive water, whether it rains or not," he added.

Kenyan government spokesman in April relayed a concerning message, 1.4 million people largely from the northern part of the country were at risk of hunger. The startling projection emerged from the weather forecast that suggested the counties of Garissa, Turkana, Wajir, Mandera, and Isiolo could receive depressed rainfall.

While this was happening, some residents along the Great Rift Valley were reeling from the economic and social devastation caused by the rising waters of Lake Bogoria and Lake Baringo.

Additionally, inhabitants close to Lake Naivasha and Lake Nakuru and other rift valley lakes, received advisories in April to move to safer grounds in the wake of the pounding rains.

The two extremes that are now becoming more frequent and intense in their severity are now inspiring a shift in farming practice, a departure from traditional farming techniques, and the adoption of short-season crops.

It is, therefore, no surprise that Mulunje has put a large tract of his land to growing kales and other ingenious leafy vegetables in place of the traditional maize crop.

"A crop like maize can only be planted twice a year and the production cost is high, whilst kales take two to three weeks. Also, if I calculate what I could make with one bag of maize harvested after a few months and vegetables harvested every three weeks the difference is stark," said Mulunje.

"A Sukuma wiki (kales) harvest can fetch me 1,071 shillings (about 10 US dollars) after every three weeks, of course, the rate shoots up depending on the harvest while with maize I have to wait for close to six months to make money," he added.

Farming across Kenya is increasingly changing in response to the high temperatures, long bouts of drought, and rising sea levels.

Some farmers are being more experimental with drought-resistant crops like millet while others like Mulunje are deviating from what was familiar many years ago for the more lucrative crops.

"My mother planted a lot of sweet potatoes, arrowroots which did very well but right now very few people have those in their farms, nearly every farmer wants a fast-maturing crop and one that consumes moderate water," Mulunje said.

He said that some of the streams and rivers that supported arrowroots and other varieties of tubers have since dried up.

Moreover, he stressed the importance of embracing farming as a steady source of income referencing his success story.

Aside from kales, the farm also has spinach, avocado trees, chilies, beans, orange and lemon trees. He has two dug-up wells which serve both the farm and his homestead needs sufficiently.

According to a 2019 Word Bank analysis, Kenyan households that are exclusively engaged in agriculture contributed 31.4 percent to the reduction of rural poverty with agriculture being the biggest employer to both poor and non-poor households in rural areas. Enditem

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