Why Kisumu grapples with biting food crisis

Early in the morning, trucks come all the way from the former Rift Valley and western provinces bringing in agricultural produce to Kisumu.

Heavily built young men are usually ready at the entrance of Jubilee, Kondele and Kibuye markets to unload the produce including bananas from Kisii and Uganda.

Victor Sabatia, 24, has been selling cabbages with his father at Kibuye Market for more than a decade.

“There is no supplier of cabbages in Kisumu, forcing us to depend on those coming from Molo and Bomet,” he says.

The cabbages retail between Sh30 and Sh90 depending on the season. The produce is brought to the market at night and those buying in bulk at a wholesale price throng the market early in the morning to scramble for the vegetables.

This is replicated in other markets in Kisumu.

Irish potatoes and carrots are brought in from Mau and Narok while Nandi and Kericho counties supply milk. The region gets its maize from Trans Nzoia County.

While Kisumu boasts of rice being grown on 2,000 hectares at Ahero Irrigation Scheme in Nyando sub-county, a spot check in supermarkets, retail shops and open air market paints a different picture since most of the rice on the shelves come from producers from outside the county.
Most vegetables, including cabbages and kale (sukuma wiki), are fetched from Kisii County.

Eggs and groundnuts are imported from Uganda.

Kisumu is literally struggling to meet its food needs. This manifested itself well during the post-election violence in 2007 when residents nearly starved as all the roads used by businessmen and farmers to transport agricultural produce were sealed off, while others feared the wrath of locals due to political reasons.

Almost 10 years since the mayhem, the situation has not changed, not even with the devolution.

So dire is the situation that fish, which should be the region’s top income earner due to close proximity to Lake Victoria, is now being imported from neighbouring counties bordering the lake and China. Fish from China is 100 per cent than the local varieties.

Fisheries ministry data shows that the country produces 200,000 metric tonnes of fish against a projected demand for one million tonnes — blamed largely on dwindling stock from Lake Victoria.

A study launched this month in Kisumu dubbed ‘The Lake Victoria Frame Survey 2016’ revealed that the number of fishermen has increased from 40,000 to 43,000 in the last two years while the of fish landings have dropped to 118,000 metric tonnes from 130,000 metric tonnes annually three years ago.

Stimulus plan

Efforts to complement fishing from the lake using aquaculture has not fully materialised in Kisumu, evidence of the failure of the 2009 Economic Stimulus plan that was supposed to spur economic activity.

Another study dubbed Lake Victoria Environmental Programme II in 2015 shows that there are few interventions to promote fish farming despite high demand in the lake region and other parts of Kenya.

A study by East Africa Sustainability Watch Network also revealed that despite the high cost of buying fish that could make good business, only 10 per cent of farmers in the Lake Basin engaged in fish farming.

East Africa Sustainability Watch Network national coordinator Norbert Nyandire, low adoption of aquaculture can be attributed to overreliance on lake fish, the perception that pond fish is not tasty and security issues as fish were being stolen from ponds.

“Perceived high cost of start-up was a big problem for groups that want to venture in fish farming. Also, a concern is sustaining it because of the high cost of input,” says Nyandire.

Many farming groups in the region, he added, were disillusioned by water scarcity caused by a lack of permanent water sources and low levels of awareness on fish farming.

The study also revealed that poor management skills contributed to the lack of interest in aquaculture.

Major export

According to Economic Review 2012, Kisumu produces 10.5 million metric tonnes of sugarcane valued at Sh9.95 billion and it is the major export from the region followed by cotton, coffee and sunflower valued cumulatively at Sh10.47 billion.

Sugar cane has been dogged by a myriad of problems and many farmers are currently suffering due to illegal sugar imports and ailing local sugar factories such as Miwani, Muhoroni and Chemelil.

Miwani collapsed a while back and is yet to be revived while the others are on the verge of privatisation. This has affected the production of sugar.

Fredrick Odhiambo Koga, a horticultural farmer in Nyando sub-county, faults the county government for not investing heavily in agriculture to boost food security.

He says extension services are poorly structured hindering access to information on modern farming methods.

Koga also says that a lack of incentives for farmers such as subsidies on seed is affecting agricultural output.

“As farmers, we need to be innovative and explore value addition by creating cottage industries. We should also carry out extensive market research to widen the market for farm produce,” he says.

The farmer also proposed the revival of cooperative societies through which farmers can buy inputs in bulk and enjoy economies of scale and access credit to venture into the modern methods of farming.

Dependence on rain-fed farming also affects food production.

“Erratic weather like currently prolonged drought is really affecting us and the perennial flood in Kano is also an issue,” says Mr Koga who is a beneficiary of Kisumu County’s efforts to mechanise farming.

The county bought eight tractors that farmers hire for ploughing their farms at a subsidised cost of Sh2,500 per acre compared to the market rate that ranges between Sh3,500 and Sh4,000.

Governor Jack Ranguma says there is a need to create a strong middle class and build an economy that produces enough food.

The governor told the Business Daily that Kisumu’s economy is as good as dead because it does not produce goods and services.

Mr Ranguma’s plan to commercialise agriculture and industrialise Kisumu is yet to bear fruit despite the county being a hub of the East African economy with an access to a market of 160 million people.

Export goods

He says most manufacturing is done in Nairobi, Thika, Athi River, and Mombasa and products exported as far as to the Democratic Republic of Congo yet it would be cheaper to produce the export goods in Kisumu.

The governor in a past interview said the county is also distributing sorghum seed to farmers to cultivate the crop after an investor expressed interest in setting up a brewery in Kisumu.

Ranguma also encourages farmers to grow more rice through irrigation.

“The county government will team up with the national government to market the produce and reduce importation of cheap rice,” he says, adding that another investor has agreed to help the region process the rice to meet international standards.

Mr Ranguma has also sought support from South Korea government to promote irrigation garden farming among Kisumu households by providing them vegetable seed and water tanks to produce vegetables for local consumption and export the surplus.

County executive for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Henry Obade says dairy production has been a challenge to the region.

“For instance, Kisumu consumes 80 million litres of milk every year yet it only produces 30 million litres. We have to come up with measures to bridge the 50 million litres deficit by producing more,” he says.

The county’s population, according to the 2009 Population and Housing Census was 968,909 persons and is projected to rise to 1,145,747 by next year.

The increase in the population is expected to pile the pressure on the county’s amenities including education, agriculture, health as well as creating employment opportunities.

“If we do not work hard, we shall continue getting food from outside the county. We must ensure we produce all the crops that are coming from our neighbours and must sustain both subsistence and commercial purposes,” says Obade.

He says Nyakach, parts of Nyando and Muhoroni sub-counties have the right conditions for dairy farming.

The county has launched a Sh17.5 million livestock development project to increase milk production.

Livestock ways distributed to 350 women groups in the county’s 35 wards. The livestock includes 81 Aryshire dairy cows, 70 dairy goats, 35 Galla bucks, 35 Dorper rams and 150 bee hives.

Outdated farming

The county government has also initiated a programme to improve the local cattle breed to boost dairy production.

“Cross breeding the exotic and indigenous will help us improve the breeds of our Zebu and achieve the required results of at least 10 litres of milk per day,” says Obade.

Prof Harun Ogindo of School of Agriculture and Food Security at Maseno University says the change of weather has hindered agricultural production in Kisumu.

The university don, who is an expert in agrometeorology, says many farmers have not also invested heavily in agriculture, use outdated farming methods and do not have access to credit to boost production.

“Most farmers do not own land and lack title deeds to use for acquiring credit from financial institutions to do extensive farming,” adds Ogindo.

But Kisumu Business Coalition chairman Israel Agina says: “As much as we cannot stop the exchange of goods with other counties, it is incumbent on every resident to find ways in which the county can be productive to sustain itself and export surplus to other regions.”

Cotton used to be Kisumu’s major cash crop in the 1980s and 1990s. This is no longer the case after the Kisumu Cotton Mills collapsed as second-hand clothes business (mitumba) booms.

Meanwhile, the residents are embracing consumerism evident by the high number of supermarkets springing up in the lakeside town.
Internationally renowned fast-food joint Kentucky Fried Chicken has also opened in at the United Mall.

The city witnessed the opening of three branches of supermarkets, Tumaini, Khetias and setting up of Nakumatt Supermarkets outlet at the new Mega Plaza.

However, the local economy does not benefit much because most of the suppliers of goods and produce such as eggs, chicken and vegetables are from other counties as insatiable demand for food soars.