NAIROBI, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Farmers in Kenya who have embraced climate-smart practices are reaping big as food prices in the east African rise amid dry spell.
With the rains having failed in October to December 2018 and between March and May, Kenya's food production has been on the decline forcing the nation to rely on imports from Uganda and Tanzania.
The country has been importing tons of potatoes, tomatoes, onions, rice, dry maize and wheat, among other produce from the neighbors, every day.
Supplies from the countries seem to be declining though, with food prices that had stabilized for months sustaining an upward trend since June.
A 50kg sack of potatoes is currently retailing at 4,500 shillings (45 U.S. dollars), up from half the price in April.
A kilo of tomatoes, on the other hand, is going for 1 dollar, which is twice the cost of the commodity fee months ago.
A 90kg bag of dry maize, similarly, is being sold for up to 40 dollars in different parts of the country, up from 30 dollars.
The surging food prices contributed to rise in inflation in July to 6.27 percent, from 5.70 percent in June, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). Most of the prices of food commodities have taken an upward trend, observed the statistics agency.
However, amid the surge in food prices and the persistent dry spell, are farmers who are reaping big having embraced climate-smart practices.
These practices include harvesting rainwater and storing in farm ponds, water pans or shallow wells and growing of drought-resistant crop varieties. One then uses the water from the pans to irrigate crops all-the-year-round.
Vincent Musyoka is one of the farmers in Kenya currently earning handsomely from onions and pawpaws that he grows in Athi River south of Nairobi, Kenya's capital.
On his leased one acre, he dug a farm pond where he stores surface runoff from rain. Musyoka harvested some 300,000 litres of water when it rained for few weeks in May, with the farmer assured of using the commodity until it rains next.
"I planted onions in late March and I am currently harvesting. Buyers are coming to my farm to pick the produce that is in short supply instead of me taking to them," he said on Tuesday.
He is selling a kilo of the produce at 70 shillings (0.68 U.S. dollars), one of the best farm-gate prices in recent times. Two months ago, a kilo of the produce was retailing at 0.38 dollars.
"It is the best time to harvest because supply of most produce is currently low due to erratic rains. Normally, during such a time there is usually high supply of produce due to the March rains but they failed rains disrupting production," said Musyoka, who expects to harvest close to 10 tons of produce.
Bernard Mburu, a farmer in Nyeri, central Kenya, is currently harvesting potatoes that he grows using water from his 25-deep water pan.
"I farm in Kieni, which is semi-arid but I am producing plenty of produce that traders are coming to buy. There is scarcity of potatoes and a kilo of currently going for 0.40 dollars on the farm, a good price," he said.
Beatrice Macharia of Growth Point, an agro-consultancy, noted that many Kenyan farmers are waking up to the reality that climate change is here.
"They are seeing it unfolding -- the rains are scarcer and erratic. Unlike before, it has now become easier to convince people to adopt climate-smart practices especially the growing of drought-resistant seeds and harvesting water. But still, a majority of farmers are still relying on rains," she said.
She observed that food prices in Kenya would continue to rise in the coming months if the dry spell persists, affecting agricultural production.
The east African nation launched its climate smart agriculture strategy in 2017 to guide investments and activities to guarantee productivity and food security, while mitigating climate change. The strategy spearheaded by Ministry of Agriculture runs from 2017 to 2026.
