Farmers to reap benefits of selling packed rice

The County Government of Busia wants to start processing, grading and packing rice at the Bunyala Irrigation Scheme.

Speaking at the Magombe Multipurpose Co-operative Society in Budalang’i yesterday, Deputy Governor Moses Mulomi said the government would buy the required equipment.

“Rice must be processed and packaged here in Bunyala. That will be given utmost priority by the county government,” said Mr Mulomi.

This will benefit more than 2,300 rice farmers who, for more than five decades, have relied on Ugandan brokers to buy their paddy at throwaway prices due to lack of machines to process the cereal.

The deputy governor regretted that the farmers had been losing millions of shillings during the harvest season, saying the county was committed to ending their exploitation at the hands of brokers.

Benefited immensely

According to Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry County Director Sylvanus Abungu, the brokers had benefited immensely from the paddy at the expense of the farmers because it contained whole and broken rice grains, as well as the husk and germ.

Magombe chairman Christopher Gunyi applauded the county government for coming to the rescue of farmers, saying they sold one kilo of paddy rice for a paltry Sh38 to the middlemen from Uganda.

After being processed, packaged and graded in Ugandan rice factories, the rice was sold for as much as Sh400 a kilo in South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi.

“Farmers have endured huge losses for many years. They spend a lot of money on rice but what they get is not equivalent to what they use,” said Mr Gunyi.

Magombe Society was founded in 1963 to fight for the welfare of farmers. There are more than 2,000 acres of rice under the Bunyala Irrigation Scheme. 

The varieties of rice grown include Pishori and Sindano.

Mulomi also said the county would partner with the National Irrigation Board and the Ministry of Agriculture to spray the rice against pests and diseases.