Farmers from Kagambwa village in Gatundu North now want the government to promptly intervene to stem the growing theft of their farm produce.
The irked farmers decried that crooks have been raiding their farms early in the morning and at night where they effortlessly harvest all their arrowroots produce.
The criminal activity, farmers observed, has been happening near river Ndwaci where they have planted arrowroots on large scale, produce they termed as their cash crop.
From the sale of the farm items, the farmers led by Jane Nyambura said they are able to meet their obligations such as payment of school fees for their children, clothing and feeding.
“We solely rely on the sale of arrowroots to feed our families and educate our children but with the growing bad trend of their theft, we are saddened we could become food beggars despite having very fertile land,” Njeri lamented.
They decried that the criminals have been timing harvesting seasons to harvest where they never planted, a move that has left them counting huge losses.
PHOTO/Mathew Ndung'u
The farmers revealed that they invest a lot of money and time in growing indigenous crops that are full of starch only for the fruits of their labour to be enjoyed by criminals who are reported to be selling the harvests at unknown markets.
To stop the criminal activity, the farmers urged the relevant stakeholders to play their part in ensuring farm produce is protected from daring thieves.
“This is a fight we cannot win alone. We have tried to talk to our local authorities but nothing much has happened. We now need reinforcement from all stakeholders. These criminals have rendered us slaves whereby we plant but they harvest. This must come to an end,” Ruth Njoki, another farmer stated.
They claimed that despite their efforts to prevent the theft, the farm items are being stolen from farms arguing that due to theft, most of them might force their children to drop out of school as they have no money to pay for their school fees come January.
The people who are involved in these crimes, they decried, are people who are not willing to work even if they are offered jobs.
The farmers appealed to the local county government, elected leaders and security agencies to come together and draw up a strategy that will end the crime which not only targets arrowroots but other farms produce as well.
