fenwood
12-29-2008, 11:11 AM
If Africa and Asia starve it's because of Western market interference and IMF pressures on countries markets.
US based parasitic Capitalism makes Soviet based Communist collectivization look much slicker!
uesday, May 20, 2008
Kenya Today
Today's News
Rice farms lie fallow as hunger threat looms large in country
Story by WALTER MENYA
Publication Date: 2008/05/20
It is mid-morning and at Wang’aya village in Nyando District farmers are tending their crops.
The sticky black cotton soil covers their legs to knee level but that does not bother them.
In one of the farms, several women blend their banters with hums of popular Christian songs as they weed a maize farm. This is a bit unusual because this farm is right in the middle of Ahero Irrigation Scheme meant for rice growing.
Unlike in the past when farmers in this place would be planting rice at this time, Ms Josephina Anyango, 56, leads her six colleagues of Chiew Inen women’s group in weeding a maize field instead.
Like their colleagues in the scheme, they have resorted to growing other food crops such as maize, sorghum, kales and tomatoes since 2006.
“We stopped growing rice because we cannot afford the cost of inputs,” says Josephina, adding that they had been getting meagre returns despite their hard work as the overhead costs escalated.
The women say that previously, it was rice farming that they looked up to for money to meet their family needs.
“We no longer get anything substantial,” quips Josephina.
As a result, rice output has significantly gone down.
Nyanza provincial director of agriculture Joash Owiro and George Omondi, the National Irrigation Board (NIB) western Kenya administrative officer, attribute the decline to inability by farmers to provide all the inputs.
According to Mr Omondi, the decline began after the board stopped giving farmers inputs.
Until 1998, the board used to give funds to farmers, explains Mr Omondi.
The board also stopped providing farm inputs and marketing of the crop and now provides only technical advice, quality seeds and maintains water structures for irrigation.
“Previously, the NIB revolving scheme helped finance rice farmers at the Ahero Irrigation Scheme right from purchase of inputs to such activities as bird scaring,” said area agriculture officer Tabitha Ajwang’.
Under the arrangement, the farmers, who occupied land on tenancy basis, were obliged to sell the produce to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) as a guarantee that they would repay the loans.
But the period following the NIB’s pull out has witnessed the mushrooming of private millers, who buy and process rice in addition to micro-finance institutions that provide loans, among others.
Farmers had to obtain loans from these institutions that apart from charging high interest rates on inputs, exploited them in marketing the produce.
Some of them have also been accused of withholding payment for the farmers.
The last of these financiers left the scheme last year following poor harvests, occasioned by a disease outbreak that affected most of the rice farms, says Mr Omondi.
Ms Ajwang’ told a recent a workshop in Kisumu that more than 500,000 acres around Lake Victoria, earmarked for rice irrigation, were idle.
Land ownership
“Poor strategies in the development of the crop and market liberalisation have seriously hampered the production of enough rice in the region and country as a whole,” she said.
Ms Ojwang’ says that due to the nature of land ownership, farmers do not have title deeds that would serve as collateral to enable them obtain loans from other financial institutions.
Mr Omondi, however, explained that rice production had not stopped altogether at the scheme, but conceded that planting would be late because of financial difficulties facing the farmers.
At prevailing market conditions, farmers require at least Sh25,000 to produce an acre of rice per year.
This translates into about Sh54 million for the 2,168 acres under Ahero Irrigation Scheme for full production per year.
While the farmers are willing to resume rice farming, they do not have the kind of money to take care of the crop whose planting time is late by a month.
Says Mr Owiro: “The previous credit arrangement for the farmers broke down, but the Government is in the process of securing a new one.”
According to Mr Owiro, the Government has opened talks with the Agricultural Finance Corporation to provide loans to rice farmers, raising hopes again, after two years of little activity.
Mr Owiro says the talks are at an advanced stage and are intended to save the scheme from collapse.
Unlike in the past where the private financiers were left to deal with farmers with little or no supervision from the Government, this time the approach will be slightly varied, promises the PDA.
“The Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, will intensify inspection to ensure that the funds are utilised for the intended purpose,” he says.
Funding
Mr Omondi confirmed that AFC had agreed to provide up to 85 per cent of the required funding to farmers.
The farmers are required to raise the remaining 15 per cent before qualifying for the AFC loan.
In addition, the farmers who wish to benefit from the loan have to form welfare groups of 20 each to co-guarantee one another.
The PDA is also optimistic that the farmers have not lost much since they are using irrigation and will easily catch up.
He says that the ministry aims to increase the production from 3,000 bags a year to significantly higher levels that can adequately serve the catchment areas and the excess sold to other markets.
As the farmers wait for the Government to conclude the talks with AFC, Josephina and the women of Chiew Inen are not leaving their farms to lie fallow.
Management
“We cannot leave these farms to lie fallow because we need to take care of our families,” says Josephina.
In the meantime, NIB has also embarked on preparing farmers to take over the management of the scheme after yielding to their demands to sell the produce to buyers of their choice, said Mr Omondi.
He disclosed that 60 per cent of the 553 farmers in the scheme have so far undergone the training on their new roles.
He also said that the scheme had identified 500 acres in Kasiro-Kolal within the same Nyando District for its expansion by the end of this year.
Eventually, the target is to bring additional 2,000 acres under rice farming in the new scheme.
US based parasitic Capitalism makes Soviet based Communist collectivization look much slicker!
uesday, May 20, 2008
Kenya Today
Today's News
Rice farms lie fallow as hunger threat looms large in country
Story by WALTER MENYA
Publication Date: 2008/05/20
It is mid-morning and at Wang’aya village in Nyando District farmers are tending their crops.
The sticky black cotton soil covers their legs to knee level but that does not bother them.
In one of the farms, several women blend their banters with hums of popular Christian songs as they weed a maize farm. This is a bit unusual because this farm is right in the middle of Ahero Irrigation Scheme meant for rice growing.
Unlike in the past when farmers in this place would be planting rice at this time, Ms Josephina Anyango, 56, leads her six colleagues of Chiew Inen women’s group in weeding a maize field instead.
Like their colleagues in the scheme, they have resorted to growing other food crops such as maize, sorghum, kales and tomatoes since 2006.
“We stopped growing rice because we cannot afford the cost of inputs,” says Josephina, adding that they had been getting meagre returns despite their hard work as the overhead costs escalated.
The women say that previously, it was rice farming that they looked up to for money to meet their family needs.
“We no longer get anything substantial,” quips Josephina.
As a result, rice output has significantly gone down.
Nyanza provincial director of agriculture Joash Owiro and George Omondi, the National Irrigation Board (NIB) western Kenya administrative officer, attribute the decline to inability by farmers to provide all the inputs.
According to Mr Omondi, the decline began after the board stopped giving farmers inputs.
Until 1998, the board used to give funds to farmers, explains Mr Omondi.
The board also stopped providing farm inputs and marketing of the crop and now provides only technical advice, quality seeds and maintains water structures for irrigation.
“Previously, the NIB revolving scheme helped finance rice farmers at the Ahero Irrigation Scheme right from purchase of inputs to such activities as bird scaring,” said area agriculture officer Tabitha Ajwang’.
Under the arrangement, the farmers, who occupied land on tenancy basis, were obliged to sell the produce to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) as a guarantee that they would repay the loans.
But the period following the NIB’s pull out has witnessed the mushrooming of private millers, who buy and process rice in addition to micro-finance institutions that provide loans, among others.
Farmers had to obtain loans from these institutions that apart from charging high interest rates on inputs, exploited them in marketing the produce.
Some of them have also been accused of withholding payment for the farmers.
The last of these financiers left the scheme last year following poor harvests, occasioned by a disease outbreak that affected most of the rice farms, says Mr Omondi.
Ms Ajwang’ told a recent a workshop in Kisumu that more than 500,000 acres around Lake Victoria, earmarked for rice irrigation, were idle.
Land ownership
“Poor strategies in the development of the crop and market liberalisation have seriously hampered the production of enough rice in the region and country as a whole,” she said.
Ms Ojwang’ says that due to the nature of land ownership, farmers do not have title deeds that would serve as collateral to enable them obtain loans from other financial institutions.
Mr Omondi, however, explained that rice production had not stopped altogether at the scheme, but conceded that planting would be late because of financial difficulties facing the farmers.
At prevailing market conditions, farmers require at least Sh25,000 to produce an acre of rice per year.
This translates into about Sh54 million for the 2,168 acres under Ahero Irrigation Scheme for full production per year.
While the farmers are willing to resume rice farming, they do not have the kind of money to take care of the crop whose planting time is late by a month.
Says Mr Owiro: “The previous credit arrangement for the farmers broke down, but the Government is in the process of securing a new one.”
According to Mr Owiro, the Government has opened talks with the Agricultural Finance Corporation to provide loans to rice farmers, raising hopes again, after two years of little activity.
Mr Owiro says the talks are at an advanced stage and are intended to save the scheme from collapse.
Unlike in the past where the private financiers were left to deal with farmers with little or no supervision from the Government, this time the approach will be slightly varied, promises the PDA.
“The Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, will intensify inspection to ensure that the funds are utilised for the intended purpose,” he says.
Funding
Mr Omondi confirmed that AFC had agreed to provide up to 85 per cent of the required funding to farmers.
The farmers are required to raise the remaining 15 per cent before qualifying for the AFC loan.
In addition, the farmers who wish to benefit from the loan have to form welfare groups of 20 each to co-guarantee one another.
The PDA is also optimistic that the farmers have not lost much since they are using irrigation and will easily catch up.
He says that the ministry aims to increase the production from 3,000 bags a year to significantly higher levels that can adequately serve the catchment areas and the excess sold to other markets.
As the farmers wait for the Government to conclude the talks with AFC, Josephina and the women of Chiew Inen are not leaving their farms to lie fallow.
Management
“We cannot leave these farms to lie fallow because we need to take care of our families,” says Josephina.
In the meantime, NIB has also embarked on preparing farmers to take over the management of the scheme after yielding to their demands to sell the produce to buyers of their choice, said Mr Omondi.
He disclosed that 60 per cent of the 553 farmers in the scheme have so far undergone the training on their new roles.
He also said that the scheme had identified 500 acres in Kasiro-Kolal within the same Nyando District for its expansion by the end of this year.
Eventually, the target is to bring additional 2,000 acres under rice farming in the new scheme.