Why Kenya is staring at a rice shortage

The country is staring at an acute rice shortage due to water scarcity at the Mwea Irrigation Scheme.
The Nation has established that canals feeding irrigation water to the paddy fields are almost dry.

The irrigation scheme produces 80 percent of the rice that is consumed in the country.

Farmers complained to the Nation yesterday that they had not prepared their farms in readiness for the July planting season because of the water shortage.

“There is very little water, which is insufficient for preparing the farms and planting the crop,” Mr Peter Mureithi said.

Mwea Irrigation Scheme Manager Innocent Ariemba said water levels in Thiba and Nyamindi rivers, which supply the farms, are abnormally low.

“There is not enough water for irrigation and there is a likelihood that, if things continue this way, then this season’s crop could fail massively,” he said.

However, Mr Ariemba said, a crisis meeting will be convened soon to discuss how the available water will be rationed. He warned that, should the problem persist, the acreage under rice could be reduced drastically.

Water scarcity

“Rice is grown on 10,000 acres but, should the water scarcity continue, then we shall have less of the crop this season,” he said. Mr Ariemba attributed the problem to the prolonged dry spell.

“Since the drought set in, the scheme has been experiencing water scarcity and the situation is of grave concern,” he added.

He expressed hopes that the water crisis will soon be a thing of the past once the multibillion-shilling Thiba Dam in Gichugu Constituency is completed.

“We’re [putting] the final touches on the dam and it will be operational soon,” he said. Mwea Irrigation Scheme produces about 113,000 metric tonnes of rice annually and fears are rife that, if it doesn’t rain soon, only half of this amount will be realised.

Kenya’s total rice production is not enough to satisfy domestic demand and the country is forced to import the commodity to plug the deficit. However, plans are underway to double production by putting an extra 10,000 acres under rice in Mwea.

At the same time, residents have lamented lack of water for domestic use and asked the government to intervene urgently.

“We’ve been using stagnant water from paddy fields and we’re worried about contracting water-borne diseases. The government should start trucking clean water to the entire scheme to save the lives of residents,” Mr Ephantus Muriuki said.