Flooding in Kenya threatens food stocks

Agriculture is the back bone of of Kenya’s economy accounting for over 25% of the country’s GDP.

In most food growing areas of Kenya, floods have destroyed crops, threatening the country’s food stocks.

Heavier than normal rainfall during Kenya’s long rainy season from March to May, has lead to flooding and farmers in country’s highlands bemoan their predicament.

“In all my three acres of land there is nothing to harvest. I don’t have any food to sell and pay school fees for my child. So we are both worried,” said Isaac Mugenda a farmer in Kitale, Trans Nzoia county.

The script is the same in Kenya’s highlands. The unusual rainfall is blamed on the El nino phenomenon, that has led to the damage of over 600 acres of farm land. To help the residents cope meteorologists in Trans Nzoia county offered training to farmers to help them monitor weather conditions

But despite the efforts, the floods displaced over 1000 families, prompting the county government to evacuate some residents to safer areas.

In a country where fast-growing population depends largely on rain-fed agriculture to feed it self, more needs to be done to prevent such incidents from recurring.