Miraa chewers pay more as dry spell affects crop in Meru

A miraa farmer in Meru inspects his crop. Farmers have suffered a setback after the weather department announced that the country will continue to experience a dry spell for the next one month. FILE PHOTO | NATIN MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Usually, the miraa crop depends on moderate rainfall in order to continue sprouting.
  • Some miraa chewers have been forced to reduce on their daily consumption due to increase in prices.
  • At the moment, the price of a kilogramme of the Kangeta variety of miraa is selling at Sh4000.
  • During the rainy season, the same would sell at a maximum of Sh500 per kilo.

Miraa chewers will have to brace themselves for higher prices for the herb due to a shortage being experienced as a dry period is expected.

Usually, the miraa crop depends on moderate rainfall in order to continue sprouting.

Currently, the prices have doubled and this trend is expected to continue up to mid-October, when the rainy season starts in Nyambene, the main miraa-growing region.

Most of the chewers in some areas, such as Maua, have abandoned chewing it until prices go down, while others, especially addicts, have to dig deeper into their pockets to buy it.

Mr Alfred Mwenda, a daily miraa chewer, says he had been forced to reduce some of his daily expenses in order to cope with the high prices, since he cannot sleep without chewing miraa.

REDUCE CONSUMPTION

He said he had also cut the quantity of miraa he consumes now that the prices have gone up.

“I chew miraa every day and I cannot sleep without it. I have taken some measures in order to cope with the high prices, including reducing the quantity that I was chewing before and also cutting down on some of my other expenditures like taking alcohol,” he said.

He, however, noted that the quality of miraa is usually very high and sweeter during the dry season as opposed to the rainy season and that the only problem he faces during the dry season was the price.

Mr Nahashon Kubai Limbere, a major miraa farmer and trader who deals in a type of miraa known as "allele", said that the major contributor to the high prices was the shortage of the product from the farmers.

LOWER HARVESTS

He said he would normally harvest around 50 kilograms of miraa per day but now he was harvesting only 20 kilogrammes per day.

This, he said, had made the prices to go up, something he said was expected to continue up to late October or early November after a few weeks of rain.

Currently, the price of a kilogramme of the "kangeta" variety of miraa is selling at Sh4,000.

During the rainy season, the same amount would sell at a maximum of Sh500 per kilo.

A kilo of the lowest quality of miraa known as "nyeusi" has also increased from the usual price of Sh400 per kilogramme during the rainy season to Ksh1,200.

Consequently, many miraa chewers who cannot afford the new prices have quit chewing it until prices drop come the rainy season.