Merryzole director Stephen Ayungo at a wheat plantation in Eldoret. [File, Standard]

Wheat farming has been the cash crop of Narok and other select counties. However, due to consistent challenges in this subsector, there has been a mass abandonment and subsequent move by farmers to farming other crops that have better returns on investment.

Wheat is second among cereal crops in Kenya in terms of production and consumption after maize. The wheat sub sector contributes Sh20 billion to the Gross Domestic Product and employs over 500,000 people.

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, the estimated wheat production is about 365,600 metric tonnes (4.05 million 90kg bags) while the estimated annual consumption is about 1,658,000 metric tonnes (18.4 million (90kg) bags) and this gap is filled by imports.

.

Keep Reading

The trend is that wheat consumption has been increasing while its production has been declining. Nevertheless, imports have been increasing to fill the gap.

Quelea bird infestation

The Smart Harvest visited Narok and spoke to a number of farmers on why they are a frustrated lot. The farmers cited numerous challenges such as unfavourable weather, lack of contract farming arrangements, quelea bird infestation, poorly maintained feeder roads, soil deterioration due to continuous land use and inadequate extension and research services. Other challenges are poor quality farm inputs, the high cost of leasing land and unreliable insurance services.

Mzee Benson Karanja from Mbugani started farming immediately after independence and had large tracts of land up to 15,000 acres with bumper harvest.



Government support in subsidies and affordable loans through the famous Kenya Farmers Association (KFA) came in handy back in the day. The story has now changed for the worse.

Farm machinery plays a crucial role in operations from land preparation, planting, fertigation, applying herbicides and pesticides, harvesting, drying and storage.

A battery of heavy-duty farm machines and equipment worth millions are lying idle at Karanja’s yard since many farmers who used to hire them to work on their wheat farms abandoned their ventures.

 Abandoned machines

Additionally, Mzee Karanja showed us his drying machine which he used to dry his own cereals and for other farmers. The machine is now underutilised since the farmers have gradually reduced the pieces of land, others have abandoned farming altogether and the remaining few has scaled down operations.



Nashon Ng’etich a former Narok wheat farmer who has shifted to maize farming in Nakuru was frustrated when he visited Mzee Karanja and saw the sorry state of affairs.

In the past, Mzee Karanja used to employ as many as 300 people to work on his farm but has since downsized to below 50 workers. These are employment opportunities that can be redeemed.

As we drove around fallow land is seen which was for wheat growing past seasons. The owners have now moved to Uganda, Tanzania and other countries within Eastern Africa where the cost of producing wheat is considerably lower.

Wreaking havoc

Wheat in the recent past nearly filled the food basket of Narok residents and its their neighbouring counties. The production has however been dwindling due to a myriad of challenges.

Driving along Maai Mahiu to Narok Road just past Suswa a few years back, vast tracts of land were covered with wheat at different stages of growth. But for this year, the tune has changed.  Stanley Koonyo, the Chairman of Cereal Growers Association (CGA) in Narok says quelea quelea birds in their millions have invaded their wheat fields and are wreaking havoc.

On a single day one bird consumes about 10 grams of wheat.

A million birds consume 10 tonnes of wheat or approximately 100 bags of wheat on a daily basis which translates to a loss of Sh350,000 daily.

The chemical to spray on these birds is a controlled one meaning the farmers cannot buy it from the agrovets as it is only authorised for use by government officials.

The farmers have been seeking for help from both county and national governments but they are yet to receive any help.

Nicholas mwangi, also a member of CGA, says the cost farm inputs have been surging every year due to imposed taxation pushing the cost of wheat production through the roof. Imported wheat has ruined the fortunes from locally produced wheat.

Due to proximity of the wheat fields to the Maasai Mara National park, wild animals such as zebras also invade farms. Mzee Sandera calls for speedy compensation of farmers following assessment of their claims. 

Daniel Kilesi, calls for the revamping of the two national cereals and produce board silo in Narok. Unless the government supports wheat farmers, it will lose all its former glory.