NYANZA IS STILL LAGGING BEHIND IN AGRICLTURE AND THE INTRODUCTION OF CASH CROPS AS ONE WAY OF FIGHTING THE ECONOMIC AGAINST THE ABJECT POVERTY.
News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

As Kenyans in other parts of the country moved with speed into the new millennium by ushering major changes in agriculture, such as the introduction of new and modern farming methods and technology, the Luo-Nyanza remains stagnant.

There is very little change in land cultivation and preparation. Local farmers, even those living in the potentially rich agriculture regions, still prefer cultivation of small and uneconomical gardens around their rural homesteads, for only their family subsistence.
A survey in some rural locations within the Luo-Nyanza regions, especially areas with fertile and arable land, with good annual rainfall, and sufficient for the improvement of food production, showed that there is still no encouraging and visible changes in the farming pattern.

And people were not amused that some parts of Luo-Nyanza region were placed under relief government food supplies ,something this region never heard of before for years and ages.

Of course political leadership in Luo-Nyanza share the blame in this kind of apathy, towards the introduction of new methods and technology of modern farming in the region. Further, there is lack of motivation and encouragement, on the part of political leadership in the region. Instead of motivating the youth and all other able bodies to work hard and spend more time in their farms ,they are obviously encouraging the culture of begging and idleness..

These leaders, in most cases, are the ones encouraging idleness by way of dishing out cheap money handouts to the youths, which in most cases ends up only benefiting “Changaa” brewers and bhang and other hard drug traffickers. This has also encouraged the youths to indulge themselves in funeral gatherings in the villages.

There is urgent need for radical changes to approaches to the lifestyle of the people in this region, if at all Luo-Nyanza is to compete with the other regions of Kenya, in terms of development activities.

The land is farmed in the same pattern forty seven years down the line, ever since the country attained her political independence in 1963. Villagers still grapple with hunger and acute food grain shortage, whereas the land is capable of providing them with plenty.

Areas which are blessed with fertile land and good annual rainfall, like Kasipul-Kabondo, Rangwe, Rongo, Migori and Ndhiwa could be the bastion of food granary for most parts of Western Kenya, if the local farmers could be motivated to move from planting grains in small gardens for family subsistence, to modern technique of planting cash crops..These areas are capable of producing two harvesting seasons within the twelve months of the year, particularly during the long and short rains seasons.

Kasipul-Kabondo is well known for the production of cash crops such as coffee, tea, pineapples,maize, tomatoes, beans, sorghum millets, sweet potatoes.

The weather and rainfall in this particular region is also conducive for the rearing of high milk yielding graded dairy cows. But local farmers in this region still prefer keeping the outmoded and uneconomic native zebu cattle.

Researchers in dairy farming recently came out with a shocking report that dairy farmers in the neighboring districts of Bureti, Kericho and Kitutu Chache  are racking millions of shillings annually by way of hawking their milk products in this area, particularly in Oyugis, the largest market in the region, where the consumption of the white liquid is said to be close to 3000 liters in day. Taking into account that a liter of milk in this area is selling at 30/-, this means the milk hawkers from the areas mentioned above are taking home close to Kshs 100,000 from the sales of milk per day. A figure, which translates into almost 400 millions of shillings annually.

Other potential areas for milk production include Rangwe, Ronmgo, Migori and Ndhiwa. In Ndhiwa, ther area MP, Joshua Orwa Ojodeh has taken the lead in pioneering into rearing graded dairy cows, with close 20 high milk yielding cows. Other farmers are following suit. One retired teacher, Mr. John Mark Oloo, who lives around Pala Maraket in Pala Division, Ndhiwa district, has introduced a good number of dairy cows, and he is now able to supply milk to the nearby schools, markets and even far flank places like Awendo and Rodi Kopany areas.

A few farmers around Rapedhi SDA Mission have followed their MP’s good example and footsteps and have introduced graded dairy animals in their farms. There is also some remarkable changes in the production of food in Ndhiwa, which falls under the rainy and the ever green Riana Valley.

Ndhiwa is also producing a lot of sugar cane, but farmers have been complaining of excessive transport charges when they deliver their cane crops at the Awendo based SONYSUGAR factory, which is located 40 kilometers away from some interior parts of Ndhiwa.. But this particularly pathetic problem of Ndhiwa sugar cane growers is soon coming to an immediate end due to the fact that a medium size multimillion shillings white sugar factory is to be established in Kanyidoto area of Ndhiwa district.

The ground breaking ceremony for the construction of the new sugar factory is expected to take place before Christmas. The project is the brainchild of the area MP Orwa Ojode,, who is also an Assistant Minister for internal Security in the coalition government. This project is posing a big challenge to other MPs from the region, who should emulate the hard work of Mr. Ojode by starting cottage industries in their respective constituencies. Kasipul-Kabondo is potential for and long over due for a pineapple juice extracting plant.

The new white sugar factory in Ndhiwa, which in full production, will change the economy of the area by not only benefiting the farmers, but also offering more than 2000 job opportunities to the youths of the area.

The inter-twined new districts of Rongo and Uriri is another potential region for intensive food and cash crops production. The two districts are currently producing thousands of tones of raw sugar cane for the Awendo based SONYSUGAR factory. Tobacco crops are also grown in abundance in this particular region.

This region is represented in Parliament by the Makerere trained and highly intelligent MP by the name of Dalmas Otieno. During his first term in Parliament under the one party system KANU {1988-1992} regime, Mr. Otieno introduced graded dairy animals scheme, which benefited almost every women and youth groups in the area. He did the same even to individual farmers. But the change of guards at parliamentary leadership level in 1992, when Otieno was ousted by the youthful lawyer, Gorge Ombogoh Ochillo-Ayacko, witnessed some changes to the disadvantage of the electorate.

The massive development activities which were otherwise progressing, turned into nightmares, and for close to 10 years, the development in the areas became stagnant. Awendo and Rongo Towns became no go area, owing to emergence of alleged sponsored political thuggery.

Uriri performed no better under the aging MP, Herman Odhiambo Omamba, who was faulted with bad mouthing his perceived political enemies in almost every public meeting and at funeral gatherings. Omamba was ousted by the youthful Cyprian Ojwang’ Omolo in 2007, the semi-illiterate MP, who many people in the area are doubting as to whether he will ever make his maiden speech in the August house.

Ojwang’Omolo recently came up with a shocking question, which puzzled his fellow Mps, when he asked the Minister In charge of Home-Affairs docket for the construction of more prisons in Uriri district, instead of appealing to the government for better prices of farm produce.

 Uriri is one of the areas in the region, which is endowed with good rainfalls, rich soil and good weather, which is conducive for grade animals farming. And like Rongo, there is no good signs of improving farming skills by the local peasants. Residents of the Agriculturally rich Uriri, were recently made to queue for government relief food supplies, something never heard of in this region for years.

Three regions in the greater Southern Nyanza, namely Nyatike, Migori and Gwassi are rich in minerals such as copper, gold and nickel. It is suspected that Gwassi could be sitting on large deposits of uranium and other minerals’ and research to unearth these economically important minerals is going on. Individual and foreign investors are grappling with the work of prospecting for gold in this region, but according to experts, there are enough gold in Migori and Nyatike district to warrant a full scale commercial mining.

Migori River is full of alluvial gold, while areas like Mikuro, Mikey, Masara and Mcalder where there are disused gold mines previously abandoned by foreign companies at the time of independence in 1963 should be revived.

Both Nyatike and Gwassi are also rich in fishing activitie as well as farming. In fact Gwassi is said to be the granary of the Suba region, now subdivided into two administrative district of Mbita and Gwassi. But due to lack of incentive to the local fishermen, the Somalis and Kikuyus have now moved into the seemingly lucrative fishing business. A lot of Somalis investors have moved to Mbita town, others have settled in Nyandiwa in Gwassi and even some have gone as far as operating from the controversial Migingo, Rhemba and Ringiti island. The locals have been reduced to mere spectators in their own backyard and now work as laborers and fishermen employed by the wealthy and shroud Somalis, who have invested in huge motor boats and a lot of fishing gears.

Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com
FOOTNOTE, THE NEXT ARTICLE WILL BE On Karachuonyo, Mbita, Nyakach, Muyhoroni