Borabu residents, in Nyamira County are facing starvation, following privatization of huge tracts of lands that were once owned by white settlers during the pre-colonial period.
Speaking on Monday at Mwongori village, many farmers raised their concern since the land can no longer be leased to them for small scale farming.
According to them, the tracks of land that were acquired by influential people from the region at independence have since been leased to commercial companies that sell their produce elsewhere in the country.
“Previously, owners used to lease the land to us at a cheaper rates hence the issue of hunger was a narrative. They have since shifted their attention to private companies which are selling their produce elsewhere,” said Haron Ongaro.
“The settlement schemes have been the back born to our economy. We used to plant maize, a predominant crop in this region that is widely used. Ever since they started leasing these tracts of land to big companies, life has been hell,” added Helen Onsongo.
They asked the county government of Nyamira to partner with the neighboruing Narok county to subsidize cereals (maize and wheat), in a bid to combat the ongoing hunger in the region.
“We can do nothing about privatization of these lands. We sincerely ask the county government to partner with Narok so that we can receive cereals from Trans Mara at a subsidized price,” added Onsongo.
According to them, they will table their proposals to the county assembly, and asked area MCAs to support it in bid to combat the starvation before it escalated.