The National Irrigation Authority, in collaboration with Kisumu County, has contracted Upland Crop Company, a private investor, to operationalize the newly installed rice mill in Ahero, Nyando Sub-County.
The County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock, and Fisheries, Ken Onyango speaking during the official signing of the lease agreement, noted that the strategic partnership would make the Ahero Rice Milling Plant commercially viable and economically beneficial to the region.
“This partnership symbolizes a major step towards revitalizing rice processing in the region, creating jobs, boosting the local economy and empowering farmers with better market access and value addition opportunities,” Onyango stated.
Upland Crop limited would operate and manage the rice mill as a private business venture injecting private sector capital for its profitability and financial sustainability.
The rice mill is designed to support farmers in Western Kenya’s irrigation schemes by offering a competitive and profitable market for small- and medium-scale rice growers.
The new mill, Onyango stressed, would significantly boost local rice production and contribute to reducing the national rice deficit, in alignment with the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
Constructed at a cost of Sh30 million by the County Government of Kisumu, the state-of-the-art mill aligns with Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o’s manifesto to accelerate agricultural transformation and promote food security and socio-economic development.
The mill has a capacity to produce 2.5 metric tons of rice per hour, which translates to approximately 60 tons per day.
Setting up of the Ahero Rice Milling Plant is expected to link local rice farmers with quality inputs and services and influence sustainable development of the rice industry in the region.
With a processing capacity of 2.5 metric tons per hour, translating to about 60 tons per day, the plant is expected to provide farmers with access to quality inputs and services, thereby promoting the sustainable growth of the rice industry in the region.
As of December 2021, rice production in Kisumu had shown significant growth, with approximately 19,000 tons of paddy harvested from 6,500 hectares, benefiting around 12,000 households.
However, most of the produce is sold as unmilled paddy due to the lack of modern processing facilities.
“Existing single-stage mills produce ungraded, destoned rice with high levels of breakage,” Onyango noted.
However, to address this, the county has procured a modern, multi-stage mill capable of sorting, grading, and packing rice to enhance value addition.”
The operationalization of the Ahero Rice Mill is expected to catalyze the transformation of rice farming in the region and offer long-term benefits to local communities.
By Robert Ojwang’
