Migori: The County of Migori has been described as lagging behind in oil crops production compared to other counties in Kenya. The ministry of agriculture within the region has confirmed that very little effort has been put in place to rally farmers to plant oil crops that include sunflower, soybeans, and cotton among others.

According to Kenya News Agency, CEC member for agriculture Lucas Mosenda assured that all was being done to mobilize local farmers to seriously diversify to growing oil crops to help address the huge shortage of food oil products in the region and Kenya at large. He said large-scale oil crop farming would help the country reduce foreign exchange lost through importation of such products; hence, the urgent need to mobilize farmers towards cultivating oil crops.

A research report authored by Professor Pius Onyango indicates that about 80 percent of Kenya’s oil and fat requirement is filled through importation, leading to depletion of the county’s foreign exchange reserves. As a result, the agricultural ministry at the National and County levels must work overtime to ensure the implementation of the existing Oil Crops Development Policy to guide the development of the oilseed industry in the country.

The report further directs that farmers should be educated on the importance of growing such crops so that more can be brought on board to cultivate the oil-producing crops. Currently, oil seeds growing can only produce 15,000 metric tonnes of sunflower, 10,000 tonnes of soya beans, and 20,000 metric tonnes of cotton, but this can be increased if farmers were contracted in large numbers to cultivate oil crops, according to available information from the Migori agricultural office.

‘With serious initiatives for sunflower and soya beans growing within counties where high opportunities for oil crops growing portend, it is estimated that Kenya can utilize up to 50,000 hectares in the farming if growers were educated to exploit available markets,’ says Prof. Onyango. However, Mosenda says that his office is working hard towards reviving cotton growing in areas where the crop thrived well in the past.

‘We are working towards setting aside funds towards the purchase of seeds and other farm inputs that can be distributed to farmers as grants or loans at subsidized prices to enable this region to produce more cotton crops,’ said Mosenda. The official disclosed that Migori has the potential of over 100,000 hectares for cotton cultivation, but it lies untapped.