MWEA-TEBERE IRRIGATION SCHEME

• It’s the largest irrigation scheme in East Africa.
• Water is got from River Thiba, River Nyamindi and River Tana.

A sketch map showing site and extent of Mwea-Tebere

Aims of the scheme

• To provide employment to the political detainees.
• To resettle the land less people.
• To produce rice and other food crops on large scale.
• To develop the area of North East Kenya.

Conditions which have favored the location of Mwea-Tebere project

• Availability of permanent water sources e.g. River Nyamindi, Thiba and Tana to provide water for irrigation.
• The gently sloping landscape i.e. the piedmont plain on the lower slopes of mountain Kenya allowing irrigation by gravity flow.
• The presence of fertile black volcanic soils for cotton and red clay soils which support rice growing.
• Availability of extensive tracts of land which was sparsely populated hence providing free land for the project.
• The area receives low and unreliable rainfall of 750mm per annum which favors irrigation.
• Supportive government policy of setting up irrigation schemes to develop remote areas of Mwea-Tebere.
• Availability of adequate capital for investment e.g. to purchase farm inputs and tools to be used for farming.
• Availability of ready market both local and international for the farm produce.
• Availability of well developed transport lines e.g. Nairobi-Nyeri railway line for delivering rice to markets.
• Presence of landless people who were ready to be recruited and provide cheap labour to work on the scheme.

Benefits of Mwea–Tebere irrigation scheme

• Source of food especially rice for human consumption.
• Provided employment opportunities to the farmers hence improving their standards of living.
• The project has helped to re-settle people who were formally landless.
• The project has led to improvement in the infrastructure e.g. roads which has improved transport in the area.
• Flooding of the rivers has been controlled hence improving the safety of lives of the people around.
• It’s a source of government revenue through taxes used to develop infrastructures e.g. roads.
• It has led to improvement in research hence resulting into high crop yielding varieties.
• The project led to effective utilization of the land which could have remained idle hence reducing resource wastage.
• It has led to development of processing industries which have led to urbanisation e.g. the rice mill at Mwea-Tebere.
• Infrastructural development has led to urbanisation e.g. Thiba and Embu towns.
• It has led to large scale output hence encouraging exports leading to acquisition of foreign exchange by government.

Problems faced by farmers on the scheme

• Pests which destroy stored crops leading to losses e.g. rice weevils.
• Diseases also destroy crops leading to low output e.g. rice blast and rice rust.
• Price fluctuations due to over production which discourage the farmers from further production.
• Weather changes which affect the output e.g. cool temperatures and heavy storms which destroy the crops.
• Reduction in soil fertility due to monoculture leading to low output.
• Weeds which compete with crops for soil nutrients leading to low quality output.
• Limited capital for further investment which also leads to reduced output.
• Soil salination due to high evaporation rates in the area leading to low output.
• Inadequate labour force especially during the harvesting period which brings activities to a standstill.
• Silting of canals which cause floods leading to destruction of farmlands.

Steps being taken to solve the problems

• Spraying of crops by using pesticides to avoid pests and diseases.
• Price control by government and production by quota system to avoid price fluctuation at the world market.
• Research on better rice varieties to increase production and quality.
• Applying fertilizers and manure to increase soil fertility and ensure high productivity.
• Use of herbicides to control weeds and reduce competition for soil nutrients.
• Weather studies are emphasized to reduce effects of weather destruction.
• Diversification of agriculture to reduce over reliance on rice growing e.g. introduction of cotton and peas.
• Encouraging mechanization to solve the problem of labour shortage especially during harvesting.
• Acquiring loans from banks to provide large capital base for farm operations.
• De-silting and dredging of canals to control floods and ensure proper flow of water.