Farms dry up after River Tana changes its course
Most farmers in Garissa County have for decades relied on River Tana for irrigation. They are now worried as the river has changed course away from their fields. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- The farmers grow mangoes, bananas, passion fruit, watermelons and vegetables and have incurred extra costs hiring casual workers to re-direct water to their fields.
- Garissa County executive committee member for Agriculture, Fisheries and Irrigation Hubi Hussein said her department had no money to rescue the farmers.
Food security forum
More than 3,000 families in Garissa County face a bleak future after River Tana, which has watered their farms for decades, changed its course.
The farmers in Raya Village, Sankuri Division, said the detour had left their farms dry. The river has been gradually shifting away from them.
Mr Rashid Mohamed said the river started charting a new course five years ago, leaving farms in Nasra, Qahera, Lagdera and Tawakal at the mercy of drought.
But the final turn was two months ago and the water is 500 metres away. Several farms are now at the mercy of the scorching sun, Mr Mohamed said.
The farmers grow mangoes, bananas, passion fruit, watermelons and vegetables and have incurred extra costs hiring casual workers to re-direct water to their fields.
DIGGING CANALS
The Nation visited farms and found workers digging canals using simple farm implements and their bare hands.
However, this has been restricted by acacia trees along the river bank.
“These farms are drying up and yet they serve more than 3,000 people who earn their livelihood from them. If nothing is done quickly by the county agricultural department, these families will be destitute soon,” Mr Mohamed said.
The farmers said they had visited the county government’s offices, but all they had received were promises.
“We thought the coming of the county government would solve these problems swiftly, considering its proximity and understanding of our plight,” the farmer lamented. “But we are shocked that despite our many pleas, none is being done.”
Garissa County executive committee member for Agriculture, Fisheries and Irrigation Hubi Hussein said her department had no money to rescue the farmers.
Food security forum
“My ministry received a Sh410 million budget allocation this financial year and this money has been committed to other agricultural projects, including the purchase of 40 engines for irrigation.”
She said her office had formed a food forum under a 10-year strategic plan that includes introducing drip irrigation and sinking boreholes for domestic use and farming.
The project needed a lot of resources, which the county government was looking for to ensure farmers did not suffer, the official added.
