Mwea farmers escape narrowly from the jaws of death

Farmers in Mwea irrigation scheme are crying after the failed rains ruined their crop harvest so much that they almost harvested nothing. The last season was a total failure and many are now struggling to make ends meet as they wait for the upcoming planting season in august. River thiba and nyamindi went dry causing a crisis due to the huge demand for irrigation water against the backdrop of less supply.

Initially all was well and farmers planted as usual and heavily spent money to buy fertilizers, pesticides and plough, but one month later hell broke loose. The rains stopped and the rivers and canals went dry and rice started drying and maturing prematurely. An acre of land would produce thirty bags of rice, but farmers only managed to harvest at most five bags per acre.

A spot check at major rice mills in Mutithi town showcased how worrying the situation is. Most mills had not milled rice for over four days and most were abandoned. The mill manager said that he had never witnessed such a case in the fifteen years he has been working in this industry and prayed that things will improve. He advised us to visit Mwea town which had a few rice stocks remaining. The situation is the same in Kimbimbi and Mururi towns which mainly deal in juakali rice farming.

Despite all this, farmers are optimistic that the next planting season of August will be different. They are patiently waiting as they pull their resources together in preparation for the big event. Schools will have closed and manual labour will be readily available not to forget the heavily rains. The thiba dam which was supposed to end the problem of water shortage is yet to be completed and they can only hope that things will improve in the future.