MORE than 100 farmers in Amagoro division of Teso North constituency have incurred losses after hailstones destroyed their crops. The Sunday and Monday rains destroyed several acres of tobacco, cassava, vegetables, maize, sorghum and potatoes plantations.

A farmer, Frank Omekede from Amagoro said the hailstones destroyed his three acres of tobacco worth Sh450,000 and a similar acreage of cassava. "I have never seen hailstones of this magnitude for a long time. We lastly witnessed a simalr one in the early 1980s," he said. Omekede said the destruction left many farm labourers jobless.

"I have a loan of Sh20,000 which i was to repay after the harvest but hailstones has destroyed all the expected harvest," he said. Another farmer Gabriel Itubo was also the casualty of the rare hailstones which pounded his tobacco farm, thus living a trail of damages.

British American Tobacco said they had dispatched insurance companies to the affected area to assess the damage. Communication manager Keith Obure said the Company's leaf manager; Geoffrey Chege had joined insurers on the ground to establish total losses incurred by the farmers.

Obure said about 30 BAT farmers were affected, adding that UAP Insurance are on the ground to assess each farmer's loss and extent of damage. " Any compensation made by UAP will no doubt be based on the assessed los," Obure told the Star in an emailed statement. In September, over 13,000 kilograms of tea were lost were lost in Kericho when hailstones pounded the area.

Experts say hailstorms are a result of the effect of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide emissions that come from burning fossil fuels or deforestation. Kericho, Nandi and Nyandarua are areas which are commonly hit by hailstorms which have affected agricultural output.

Source - http://allafrica.com/