Mwea rice farmers say water shortage to affect supply

An acute shortage of rice is looming in Kenya due to lack of sufficient water at the giant Mwea Irrigation Scheme in Kirinyaga County.

Water supply has been greatly affected by the prolonged dry spell and farmers have expressed fears that rice production will fall.

Water levels in major rivers which supply irrigation the Scheme have gone down, pointing to possible low rice harvests this season.

Currently, there are only six cubic metres of water flowing in which cannot sustain rice farming in the 26,000-acre Scheme.

WATER FLOW

According to the chairman of the scheme's water users association Maurice Mutugi, for rice to do well, water flowing in rivers should be at least 11.3 cubic metres.

"The situation is serious and low production will be experienced in the area," said Mr Mutugi.

The most hit areas are Wamumu, Karaba and Mutithi, Ndindiruku and Nguka where rice is grown in large scale.

A spot check by the Nation established that the already planted rice in some areas has started wilting due to lack of enough water for irrigation.

LOW PRODUCTION

If the drought persists, the production will go down by 50 percent and Kenya will experience a shortage of the vital foodstuff.

When there is enough water and the climate is favourable, farmers produce one million bags of rice, which translates to Sh7 billion per season.

Mr Mutugi observed that some farmers did not even plant rice this season and those who did are sharing the little water available through rationing.

The farmers said that unless it rains soon for water to rise in rivers Nyamindi and Thiba, which they mainly rely one for irrigation, rice production will be very low.

RAIN

"Unless the short rains come early enough we shall surely suffer," said Mr Simon Njogu, one of the farmers.

Mr Njogu said rice requires a lot of water to do well and called on the government to speed up the building of the Sh20nillion Thiba dam to mitigate water problems at the scheme.

"If this dam is constructed water problems at the scheme will be history," said Mr Njogu.

Another farmer, Gerishon Ndwiga, is a miserable man.

SCORCHING SUN

Rice in his four-acre farm has dried up due to the scorching sun and he says he will not harvest anything.

"I could not get water to irrigate my rice and it dried up out before it matured," Mr Ndwiga lamented.

The Mwea scheme, believed to be the largest in East and Central Africa, produces 80 percent of the rice consumed in Kenya.

Farmers said they started experiencing water problems in July.

"Water started reducing in rivers in June. At the moment, many farmers are not accessing water and their crops will dry up," said another farmer.