Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary (CS), Mutahi Kagwe, has raised alarm over the rising cases of agriculture malpractices, warning that the trend is eating into farmers’ earnings.
Speaking in Nyeri yesterday, Kagwe expressed concern over the spiraling incidences of of livestock and agricultural produce theft in the country.
He regretted that during the brazen robberies, the thieves stole the produce and destroyed the entire plantation.
The CS said noted that this not only discourages farmers from increasing their production but also undermines government’s efforts in boosting Kenyans livelihood as well as guarantee food security.
“We have been experiencing challenges in the farming sector of theft particularly theft of coffee, macadamia and livestock because some of the ways that the thieves are operating is beyond understanding. There are others who are milking the cows at night .Then there are those that get to a macadamia tree, an avocado tree or a coffee bush and instead of picking the fruits, they cut down the entire bush,” said Kagwe.
“Why are you cutting the tree? What are you going to steal tomorrow?” he posed.
Kagwe said his ministry is working with county administration to ensure that farmers receive adequate security. He also called for the re-establishment of the Agricultural Police to enhance security for the farmers and their crops.
The CS also cautioned coffee farmers against engaging in coffee hawking adding that those engaging in the trade are facilitating a crime within the sub-sector. Kagwe singled out the growing trend in Nyeri County where coffee hawking is being conducted in bars and entertainment joints.
“There are people who have been identified who are now buying cherries from farmers directly. That is illegal. In fact I am told that there are bars where coffee hawking is taking place and the sellers use the proceeds to settle their bills. The seller ought to take cherry to the factory, the buyer who is buying from the farmer without a licence is also on the wrong,” stated Kagwe.
Kagwe said that the outlawed practice is encouraging coffee theft and has led to suspiciously large volumes of coffee being delivered to factories by farmers owning small pieces of land. And while calling for vigilance by factory managers and security actors, he said that coffee hawking risks undermining the formal coffee market by denying farmers of their earnings.
“This is how we are ending up with individuals who owns a quarter of an acre under coffee delivering cherry that is equivalent to what would be harvested from a 10-acre parcel of land under coffee. These are people who are messing up the coffee sectors. So we need to straighten this agricultural sector to bring fair play and to make sure that people are being rewarded in accordance with the effort they are putting, not rewarded by stealing,” stated Kagwe.
On his part, Nyeri senator Wahome Wamatinga attributed the rising agricultural products to youth unemployment. He called on parents to actively involve the youth in farming by allocating them portions of land or giving them livestock saying that this would help integrate them into the sector and reduce theft cases.
“We want to use reverse engineering. Now that they have seen they can make money from farming, we are going to use that to encourage them to join farming, “stated Wamatinga.
By Wangari Mwangi
