Farmers decry dilapidated roads in Naivasha

Maella center, 40kms from Naivasha town has been identified as the food basket for residents of Nairobi, Nakuru and Naivasha town.

Over 50 percent of potatoes and green maize consumed in the three major towns is produced in the center that borders Narok center.

However the farmers have little to show for it with the produce at times going to waste or fetching poor prices every year due to the poor road infrastructure coupled by heavy rains.

This has locked out potential traders and transporters from the highly productive area forcing the farmers to rely on well-wishers to rehabilitate the dilapidated road infrastructure.

According to one of the farmers Samuel Mukono, residents had been forced to use donkeys and motorcycles to ferry farm produce from their farms to the nearby trading centers.

He blamed the current crisis on poor leadership which had seen some of the major roads cut off by rains forcing them to seek the assistance of donors.

“Currently we have been forced to rely on one of the donors to rehabilitate the road that leads from Maella to Narok so that our produce can reach the market,” he said.

This was echoed by another farmer David Kimunya who said that the prices of farm produce had dropped by over 50 percent due to the poor condition of the roads.

He added that the situation had been worsened by high prices of fertilizer and transport, a move which had seen farmers incur huge losses.

“A small bag of potatoes is now going Sh300 down from Sh650 and the main problem is the poor road infrastructure in this area,” he said.

Kimunya noted that the farmers were incurring extra cost in ferrying the produce to the market as they had to hire motorcycle operators or use donkeys.

Another farmer Paul Mbugua admitted that the area was highly productive but the farmers were very poor due to the low prices in the market.

He pointed an accusing finger at the county government and area leadership for the current challenges which left the farmers at the mercy of the transporters.

“The brokers are the ones determining the prices of potatoes and maize in this area based on the condition of the roads,” he said.

Last month while on a tour of the area, Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui said that the main Maella-Kongoni road which links the area with Naivasha would be tarmacked.