Farmers count losses after heavy rain

By JAMES MUNYEKI

When Jane Nyokabi ventured into potato farming at her Gathanji farm in Ol Kalou, she was optimistic this would give her enough money to bring up her four children.

With this in mind, she took a loan from a local bank in Nyahururu and invested in the sector.

And all was well with her crops until they matured in March when the rains started.

Without wasting any time, she hired workers on her eight-acre piece of land who harvested the crops so that the heavy rains would not destroy them.

But no sooner had she finished harvesting the produce than what she least expected happened. The roads connecting her to other parts of the region were cut off by the rains and she could not sell the produce as a result. A month down the line after harvesting, Ms Nyokabi still cannot sell the produce, as the roads are impassable.

Like her, this is the case for many other farmers in the region. They cannot sell their produce after the rains destroyed many roads in the area.

Majority of the roads, which are impassable, include Nyahururu-Boiman road, Ol Jororok-Gathanji, Ol-Jororok-Ndundori and Tumaini-Gilgil.

It is expected that farmers in the region will lose an estimated Sh20 million in terms of produce going to waste.

Government promise

Nyandarua Kenya National Chamber of Commerce chairman Wahome Kamoche said the situation is likely to worsen, as the rains have shown no signs of stopping any time soon.

“Many parts of the region cannot be accessed as the roads have all been rendered impassable. The farmers cannot take their produce to the market as lorries cannot access their homes,” he says.

Kamoche regrets that despite the Government promise that they would be repaired, this is not forthcoming.

“We are tired of the false promises by the Government and we fear that all our produce will go to waste. The potatoes we harvested three months ago are now rotting in the stores,” he says.

Ol-Jororok MP John Waiganjo points out the Ol-Jororok-Ndundori road, which had been earmarked for tarmacking, but the project is yet to kick off.

Deplorable state

He says Sh60 million had been allocated for the road construction but six months down the line, no tender had been awarded. “We want to know where the money went to and who was mandated to design it. We cannot watch our farmers suffer as their crops rot in farms,” he said.

He is now demanding that the Government explains when the road construction would start. Waiganjo says despite several enquiries to the Ministry of Roads, there has been no action.

“I have been to the Ministry of Roads headquarters to raise concern on the deplorable state of our roads but nothing is being done. We want to be considered just like other Kenyans and the Government should not neglect us,” he said.

He pointed out that if the Ol-Jororok–Ndundori road was tarmacked, it would open up the region to business and farm produce would reach the markets easily.