By Joseph Kamau Waweru
Residents of Kaboi Village in Soy, Uasin Gishu County, have condemned a cruel incident which has left one of the farmers counting losses after his 10-acre maize farm was sprayed with unknown herbicides.
The farmer, Joseph Terer, has said that he was notified of the incident by the farm security personnel after which he immediately informed the relevant authorities.
“The police are still doing the investigation and the Ministry of Agriculture is in the process of evaluation,” added Terer.
According to the farmer, he has used over Ksh500,000 in preparing and planting the maize in the farm which 70 per cent has since withered and dried after the chemical was sprayed by unknown people.
It is suspected the chemical sprayed on the farm is Roundup.
Speaking to the media at the farm, Kipchumba who is the Nyumba Kumi elder in the area condemned the incident which he said had never happened before.
Hasten probe
He described it as against the government’s spirit of addressing food security.
“The government wants to end hunger since currently, the nation’s outcry is all about the high cost of living yet an individual is destroying food,” said Kipchumba.
He also challenged the police to hasten a probe into the incident and ensure culprits were arrested and brought to book.
His sentiments have been echoed by Reuben Kemboi, the area resident who said destroying a maize farm was against the government’s idea of ‘planting to save others.’
According to World Food Program (WFP), in the estimated period between March to June 2023, the state of food insecurity in Kenya is expected to become more unbearable.
WHO estimates that over 5.4 million people are yet to face high levels of food insecurity all over the country.
Statista, on the other hand, indicates that after several years of a downward gradient, the world hunger rate has started to rise rapidly from 2019 to 2023 thus affecting approximately 10% of the people globally.
