Why muguka farming is a curse and not a blessing

Kanja, Embu

There is a stimulant crop that is grown in Embu District known as muguka, which is silently destroying families in the county.

It is sad that most of those campaigning for elective posts in the county are not talking about the khat-like plant.

Embu is a very productive place, considering its proximity to Mt Kenya forest. We can produce agricultural products all year round and this has enabled many parents to engage in farming for economic gain so as to educate their children among other needs.

However, after adopting muguka farming, money matters aside, we are now witnessing a lifestyle that if not arrested will rob us of youths and a future.

It is important that we admit that our education has been affected going by recent KCPE exam results in our public schools, diminishing population in our early child education centres and the 2011 KCSE exam results.

I agree that money is now flowing to families on a daily basis and people can’t miss a proper meal on their table, but the sad thing is unlike coffee and tea farming this daily income is not being invested so that we can pay school fees for our children.

Another effect is that anytime one passes through the muguka farming zones, you will find young boys by the roadside chewing the leaves be it on school days or weekends. I could be wrong but I want to believe that this carefree lifestyle is what is making our youths engage in violence, especially in political rallies.

I believe that even those aspiring for political seats within the county can admit that they are facing a different class of people than was present in 2007.

We are living with this pain of witnessing our young brothers who are always in a drunken stupor, where nothing worries them, challenges them or bothers them. Lost and caged in their own world where they are not pursuing any dream or purpose, they cannot present themselves for any serious interview and soberly sell themselves.

I could be harsh in this judgement but there is a big difference between those of us who never encountered muguka during our school days and the current generation. We risk losing a whole generation even as we earn good money from the crop.

It is high time that we looked at this matter even as the politicians promise to look for markets for our muguka products. We must review the pros and cons of this cash cow. Could we be milking acid that will wear us out in a few years?

Can’t we capitalise on coffee and maize farming and keep our sons rather than this muguka plant that is quickly killing our sons and our future.

Socially, we can admit we are affected and many may even deny this, but it is a fact that new marriages are not so common while new births are fewer.

It is a time bomb that needs to be detonated quickly even as we listen to the promises of laptops in schools, free secondary education, loans for youth projects, jobs etc.

As we stand now, these goodies may not find their consumers. If this trend continues Embu will have no use for its good schools, our beautiful girls will have to be married elsewhere, grandfather and grandmother titles would become a mockery and jobs would go to residents of other counties.

I plead with the churches and leaders to come out boldly against this crop. The people of Embu should accept that money is not everything. Our future is at stake. Muguka farming cannot be a blessing, but the curse of 2013.