Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has asked the national government to prioritize buying all the locally produced rice before allowing importation of duty free product.
Waiguru said that while it is understandable that the country does not produce enough rice to meet the national demand, it is only imperative that priority is given to local rice farmers.
She warned that the planned importation of 500,000 metric tonnes of milled white rice announced in a notice by Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury, John Mbadi, would hurt Mwea rice farmers.
“Before you import rice from outside, just note that our stores are full with rice and we ask that you first buy that one and then import to meet the deficit,” she asserted, noting that as a governor, she cannot sit back and watch farmers from the county suffer.
Her appeal comes after a gazette notice by CS Mbadi allowing directed importation of duty free Grade 1 rice on or before 31st December 2025.
The move has been criticized by farmers in the rice growing scheme of Mwea who are concerned that the duty free rice import will flood the market with cheap rice and disadvantage them and cripple the local production.
Waiguru said importation of duty free rice should only be allowed when the local produce is bought.
Kirinyaga County is the leading rice producer in Kenya and hosts Mwea Irrigation Scheme that spans around 30,000 acres. The scheme produces about 200,000 metric tons that fetch farmers close to Ksh. 15 billion annually. It also supplies over 60% of domestic rice, largely contributing to the country’s overall rice production and food security goals.
The governor who was speaking at Kiaragana in Ndia during the funeral of Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki’s father-in-law, also addressed the recently introduced coffee Direct Sale and Settlement system. She said that she had held a discussion with farmers, all coffee cooperatives, Capital Market Authority and other key sector stakeholders where it was agreed that implementation of the new payment system should be put on hold until contentious issues were addressed.
She noted that Kirinyaga is a key player in coffee sector since it is the second highest producer with 25% of entire coffee revenue in Kenya coming from the county.
Governor Waiguru’s administration has over the years supported farmers to increase production through her Wezesha Kirinyaga initiative. The program has so far supported over 100,000 households with subsidized farm inputs, agricultural mechanization, value addition, marketing, value addition and extensive agricultural technical support.
The support has led to doubling of production in the various agricultural value chains such as rice, tomatoes, avocado, fish, and dairy among others.
