The government is looking to increase rice production in Mwea, Kirinyaga County, from the current 114,000 metric tonnes to 180,000 as President William Ruto seeks to lower the cost of living.
Ruto will tour Kirinyaga on Saturday, October 15, where he will officially commission Thiba Dam alongside the area governor, Anne Waiguru.
The water from Thiba Dam, Waiguru stated, will be supplied to rice farms in the county, thus enhancing productivity.
A surge in rice production will increase the supply of the commodity in the market, prompting traders to lower its prices.
However, traders will benefit more as their earnings were projected to rise from Ksh9 billion to Ksh16 billion.
“The increased water supply is the news that every rice farmer in Mwea has been waiting for. We want to express our gratitude to the President for the effort to ensure water from the dam is finally flowing to the farms.
“Our farmers will now have adequate supply of water to their farms and this will result to increased production and employment,” the governor added
On his part, National Irrigation Authority (NIA) manager, Innocent Ariemba, affirmed that the dam will enable double cropping for the farmers hence increasing the production.
The unveiling of the Thiba dam project comes at a time when the country is grappling with the high cost of living necessitated by the aftermath of the pandemic, drought and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Consequently, there have been calls for the country to try diverse food and slow down on the over-reliance on maize products.
Upon assumption of office as the president, Dr Ruto embarked on an endeavour to mitigate the drought that had affected parts of the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands in Kenya (ASALS).
He also released subsidised fertilizers and lifted a ban on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
