Farmers in Garissa are appealing to state, non-state actors and well-wishers to help residents affected by floods rebuild their lost livelihoods.
They said not much assistance has come their way since their farms were destroyed by flash floods three months ago.
Led by the Garissa farmers network chairman, Abdi Farah, they further urged the government to expedite compensation, saying they lost everything, including pumping machines.
They spoke on Thursday when they received a donation of more than 2,000 pixie orange seedlings from Garissa Community Organisation to replenish their lost crops.
"Only Garissa Community Organisation and Islamic Relief reached out to the affected farmers. As you are all aware, all farms along the river were submerged by flash floods, leading to losses amounting to millions of shillings,” he said.
Ogle Gure of Iftin farm said the seedlings will help them replenish their lost orange trees.
“I lost 40 trees of oranges and mangoes that I had harvested for 10 years. The floods were disastrous,” he said.
Gure said they expect the seedlings to adapt well since Garissa has the same favourable weather condition as Makueni county, where the fruit trees are doing well.
Garissa Farmers Network secretary Ebla Hassan said the Garissa Community Organisation also donated floating drums to farmers whose water pumps were washed away. The farmers network has more than 7,000 members.
“The floating drums were best for farmers since they will survive the floods experienced twice in a year,” she said.
Ebla appealed to well-wishers and NGOs to help the farmers rebuild their lost livelihoods.
During the April-May rains, farmers in Garissa incurred huge losses after River Tana breached its banks and flooded farmlands destroying crops.
There are 3,000 farmers along the river and 290 farms in Garissa, Balambala, Bura and Masalani subcounties.
