Rice farmers in  Kisumu county are grappling with losses estimated at Sh302 million after devastating floods swept through their farms, threatening the region’s food security.

At least 4,100 farming communities from key rice-growing areas such as Nyando and Kadibo were worst-hit by the floods that have submerged approximately 800 acres of rice plantations.

Agriculture executive Kenneth Onyango described the recent floods in  Kisumu’s lowland areas as unprecedented, causing substantial crop loss, especially to the rice growers.

In Kabonyo Kanyagwal ward, approximately 1,500 farming households lost 90 per cent of their crops, valued at Sh150 million.

In Ahero ward, around 2,000 farmers suffered total crop loss, estimated at Sh120 million.

In Nyalenda B ward, farms belonging to about 600 farmers were completely submerged leading to losses amounting to Sh32 million.

Another 1,010 households across 11 wards suffered losses amounting to Sh12.8 million after their food crops, including vegetables, sorghum, cowpeas, maize, cassava, beans, potatoes and green grams, were destroyed.

“This year's floods have been devastating, with farms being submerged and massive crops being washed away due to backflow from Lake Victoria and River Nyando bursting its banks,” Onyango said during an interview with KNA.

He said despite the severe flooding in the region, farmers on higher grounds did not experience the same level of crop destruction.

“The county government is currently implementing several innovative measures to help farmers recover and build resilience against future disasters,” Onyango said.

He said the county government is providing subsidised farm inputs through the e-voucher system to support farmers affected by the disaster. This system, the official said, aims to enhance productivity by making essential farming inputs more affordable.

“We have developed an e-voucher system to subsidise farm inputs through selected agro-dealers. For example, we have an MoU with One Acre Fund and other well-established agro-dealers to ensure farmers can obtain farm inputs at a subsidised cost through this system,” he said.

“We are confident that the initiative will contribute to the upscaling of agricultural production activities within the county.”

Another MoU between NCBA Bank and the county will see the bank finance farming activities on behalf of the farmers, especially in rice-growing areas.

“The department of agriculture, along with its partners, has devised a model whereby farmers access funds from the bank to finance specific farming needs, such as hiring equipment," Onyango said.

"The funds are not credited to farmers’ accounts, instead, the bank directly pays the suppliers and it will then recoup the dispensed funds once the farmers harvest their crop.” 

Onyango said the initiative would provide financial flexibility to the rice farmers.

He said the county has also initiated plans to introduce an insurance policy to cover farmers against losses caused by natural disasters.

This measure aims to enable farmers to recover more swiftly with reduced financial burden.

Source - https://www.the-star.co.ke