Kisumu rice farmers incur Sh50 million losses

Rice farmers from West Kano in Kisumu county have incurred Sh50 million losses after floods destroyed acres of rice farms.

West Kano Irrigation Scheme chairman Jared Odoyo said the floods caused by heavy rains destroyed 650 acres of rice under production.

He attributed the situation to failure by water pumps to cope with the high water levels.

Odoyo said farmers' hopes for a bumper harvest in January had been dashed.

The farmers, he said, will be unable to repay the loans they took from banks and other financial institutions.

The scheme with more than 1,000 registered farmers has urged the government to cushion the farmers from a looming financial crisis.

“We are currently stranded, we do not know how we are going to repay the loans. With schools opening next year, we are staring at a difficult situation,” Odoyo said.

He spoke on Sunday when he visited the scheme with other officials.

Odoyo urged the national and county governments to procure a new water pump to control the flooding.

“The outlet pump has been a problem to the farmers for two decades, it is a source of misery. We want a new pump to be installed,” he said.

Odoyo decried increased cases of invasion by hippos that have caused massive destruction on the farms.

He said the hippos have destroyed more than 30 acres of rice.

Meanwhile, the farmers have welcomed the appointment of Charles Muasya as the substantive chief executive officer for National Irrigation Authority.

They pledged their support for Muasya to drive the enhanced rice production and food security in the region.

Muasya was appointed last month by the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation.

A farmer from West Kano Scheme had moved to the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Kisumu to challenge his appointment.

Odoyo however distanced the scheme from the petitioner saying he is not their member.

 “We have gone through the list of our members and the person who has gone to court claiming to be one of us, is not our member,” he said.

Odoyo said farmers have faith in Muasya, who visited them many times when he served as the acting CEO.

“What farmers want is service delivery to the people, the government and the appointing authority. If Muasya has been picked as the best, then we are behind him,” he said.

Odoyo said the scheme will not be dragged in the politics of NIA and will work with any person appointed by the government.

“We want the new CEO to help us address challenges that affect us at the scheme. We want him to fix the new pump to get floodwaters into Lake Victoria,” he said.

Joseph Yogo, a farmer, urged Muasya to work with the Kenya Wildlife Services to capture the marauding hippos

“We have tried to drive the hippos away to no success. We need help from KWS because they have the capacity to deal with them,” he said.

The farmers have praised the authority for maintaining major infrastructure such as pump stations and water distribution systems.

NIA plans to expand land under irrigation in Kisumu to increase rice production through proper infrastructure.