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Mwea rice prices rise due to high demand
Traders selling rice at Mwea Nice Rice Millers at Ngurubani town in Kirinyaga county. Prices of rice has gone up in the country due to high demand of the commodity.
Producer prices of rice have risen in Mwea, worsening the cost of living for Kenyans.
One kilo of processed rice now goes for Sh180, up from Sh120.
Consequently, Kenyans from Kirinyaga and other parts of the country must dig deeper into their pockets to pay for the commodity.
The increase was caused by the severe drought that has wiped out maize, the staple food for a majority of Kenyans, increasing demand for rice.
Maize crops dried up before they matured following a prolonged dry spell, leaving Kenyans scrambling for the readily available rice, which is grown through irrigation in the expansive Mwea scheme, the largest in the country.
Areas like Mwea in Kirinyaga and Mbeere in Embu where maize is grown on a large scale were hit hard by harsh weather.
Residents from these areas complained that thousands of acres of maize had been destroyed by the scorching sun.
"We have not harvested anything this season because the dry weather was not favourable for our maize crops. Now we must buy rice, whose prices have soared due to high demand for the cereal," said Ms Margaret Wanja.
Because maize crops failed, Kenyans have turned to rice, leading to an increase in demand for the cereal, mostly grown in the giant Mwea irrigation scheme on a large scale.
The scheme produces 80 per cent of rice consumed in Kenya but it is not enough to feed the rising population.
Kenya produces I14,000 metric tonnes of rice and the government wants to increase production to meet the demand. It will expand rice farming after the Sh20 billion Mwea Thiba dam in Rukenya village, Gichugu constituency, is completed.
"There is high demand for rice due to an acute shortage of maize, especially in the Mt Kenya region. Therefore, rice traders are taking advantage of the maize shortage to hike rice prices," said John Murungaru, a consumer.
Consumers lamented that the situation was serious and called on the State to step in and control the prices.
"These are hard times as the cost of living is rising to worrying levels. Something urgent should be done to save us," another consumer said.
Others also said rice prices were too high.
"How many Kenyans can afford to pay that amount of money for a kilogramme of rice?" another said.
