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The Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA) has purchased 150 metric tonnes of paddy rice from the West Kano Irrigation Scheme in a post-harvest intervention aimed at cushioning farmers, stabilizing prices, and reducing losses.
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LBDA Managing Director Wycliffe Ochiaga said the exercise is part of efforts to strengthen the rice value chain and ensure farmers benefit from their work.
“We are protecting farmers from low prices and post-harvest waste. This guarantees them a secure market,” he told journalists in Kisumu on Tuesday.
The initiative, he explained, supports the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), which emphasizes agriculture, rural development, and improved livelihoods. All collected rice is being processed at the Authority’s Kisumu milling plant.
Ochiaga noted that the program will soon be extended to other rice-growing zones under LBDA, including Kano, Chiga, Kimira and Oluch, Nyatike, and Budalang’i. By offering competitive prices and handling logistics, the Authority aims to shield farmers from middlemen and prevent waste during peak harvest.
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The West Kano Irrigation Scheme remains one of western Kenya’s key rice producers. To support processing, LBDA runs a Kisumu plant with a four-tonne-per-hour milling capacity and provides free drying services to farmers to improve quality and minimize post-harvest losses.
Ochiaga credited the success of the operation to collaboration between LBDA field officers, county governments, and farmer groups, calling it essential to strengthening rice production in the region.
