A new cost-effective motorcycle that doubles up as a water pump and transport machine has entered the Kenyan market.

The Skygo brand motorcycle, which costs costs Sh110,000, could change the fortunes of farmers by helping them in irrigation as well as porting their inputs and outputs.

The machine can pump up to 40,000 litres of water per hour while consuming 0.25 litres of petrol worth Sh25.

Pumping efficiency is, however, dependent on the depth of the source, but it can draw water from a depth of up to 40ft.

The motorcycle, with an engine capacity of 150cc, is currently being supplied by Kenyan assembler Makindu Motors, who have branches in Thika, Mombasa, Garissa, Narok and Makindu.

New motorcycles of the same engine capacity but without the pump cost between Sh103,000 and Sh107,000 in Nairobi.

Turning point

The adoption of such tools could be the mark of a turnaround, following a recent report by FAO that only 6 per cent of the land in Africa is under irrigation compared to Asia which has 37 per cent.

Kenya has 5.4 million hectares of arable land, but only 17% of this land is suitable for rainfed farming.

Two-thirds of Africa’s roughly 13,400 hectares of irrigation-equipped land is concentrated in North Africa where water withdrawals as a share of total renewable water resources is 219 percent in northern Africa, but only one percent in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Interested farmers can reach Makindu Motors on phone number: 0713683026