62-year old farmer Martha Waema, in her three-acre farm that was submerged by weeks of rainfall in Machakos, Kenya, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. According to Kenya’s interior ministry, the heavy rains affected 400,000 people across the country and killed 289. Crops on approximately 168,092 acres of land have been destroyed, posing a threat to food security. This represents 0.24 percent of Kenya’s based on World Bank Data that shows 48% of Kenya’s land is agricultural.
As farmers count their losses — a total yet unknown — the deluge has exposed what opposition politicians call Kenya’s ill preparedness for climate change and related disasters and the need for sustainable land management and better weather forecasting. Jane Kirui, an agricultural officer in Narok County, emphasized the importance of terracing and other measures such as cover crops that will allow water to be absorbed.
At Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, professor John Gathenya recommended practices such as diversifying crops and emphasizing the soil’s natural water retention capacity.