Kambiti, food basket that is choking under the sun

Along the Kenol-Sagana-Marua highway lies a dusty village known by many for its strategic location on the busy road.

Kambiti, which has a catchment of 13,920 residents, is 22km away from Kenol town in Murang’a South subcounty.

Four sublocations fall under it, namely Kambiti, Karia-ini, Maranjau and Mihang’o.

Kambiti depends on mango farming as its main economic activity, but is afflicted by a serious water shortage that leaves residents depending on food aid during drought.

At midday, the sun is so hot that it leaves one faint and sweaty.

With two rivers, Kambiti and Thaara, passing on the sidelines of the area, the villagers are forced to rely on undependable springs that also dry up with prolonged lack of rain.

At Kambiti shopping centre, residents complained that lack of the commodity has condemned them to living backward lives, with some having to conduct their businesses in mud-walled shops.

Landlords in the shopping centre have to construct traditional toilets set up at the corner of the compound and shared by tenants.

Though those living in the shopping centre have water pipes installed in their homes, the commodity is pumped from the local community borehole once or twice a week, and they have to store it in tanks.

“Once the water is pumped, I store about 500 litres to sustain my family because I have two small children and a husband,” Mary Njoki, a resident, said.

Each house has a water metre that is used to charge them for the commodity.

Njoki said lack of water has left the area underdeveloped despite the fact that it is on a highway plied by thousands of motorists each day, and which is now being expanded into a dual carriageway.

Grace Muthoni, a grocery trader in the market, said they buy three 20-litre jerricans of water at Sh100 for their businesses, which she said is too expensive for their poor economy.

Muthoni said if water was available, it would boost hygiene and provide a conducive business environment that would attract investors.

Benson Maina, a village elder and the chairperson of Kambiti market, said a large number of local homes are not connected to water and have to source for the commodity from springs.

The market, he said, is provided with water from the borehole sunk by the government at the chief’s camp on Tuesdays and Fridays during market days.

“This toilet should be open throughout to serve both traders and buyers, but it is only opened during the two days that water is available,” Maina said, pointing to a fairly new ablution block constructed by a water company.

He appealed to the county government to provide sufficient water to the area to attract more traders, which he said would reduce the cost of commodities and boost the economy.

In the nearby Kiha-ini village, homes dot stretches between mango farms full of shrubs, evidence of the cruel weather.

Barely two kilometres from the highway, a group of girls sits near a rocky area with tens of jerricans.

The girls say they have been queuing since 3am to fetch water from a spring on Mwitabio stream that has since dried up. The stream dries up after only a month without rain.

All that is left of the stream is the bedrock and a single spring that muddies up when several jerricans are harvested from it.

But by the time they were getting to the stream, another group of residents had arrived at the spring by midnight, and the water had dried up. The water is fetched from the spring using a jug.

With schools closed, the girls said fetching water is all they do. They barely have time for homework.

Jane Wanjiru, a resident, said that with the raging sun, the spring barely produces 20 jerricans a day.

“Those who arrive at the spring during the day only fetch the commodity at night, while those who camp at the river overnight fetch during the day,” she said.

The chronic lack of water has subjected the area to food insecurity and poor nutrition as locals are unable to engage in farming.

Wanjiru said they depend on mangoes for survival and are only able to pay school fees at the beginning of the year, during the mango season.

The rest of the year, their children are often sent home over fees arrears.

But the resident said the area is rich agriculturally and is only crippled by the scorching sun that it experiences and the poor rains.

“When it rains for longer, we are able to plant food crops and get a good harvest, but we rarely get sufficient rains,” Wanjiru said.

She cried to both county and national governments to provide them with domestic and irrigation water and help transform the area into a food basket for the county.

“Help us become self-sufficient,” she said.

“You can see how lush and beautiful the horticultural estates are because they are able to irrigate their farms. With water, we can plant dragon fruits, oranges, melons and butternuts, and make a living.”

In the next Maaciana village, Jane Njeri, an elderly widow, said they source water from a spring in the area that they share with livestock.

By the time she gets to the spring, the water is muddy and too little to fetch as residents fetch the commodity before dawn.

“The water does not flow, so we have to get there by 5.30am and have to boil it for drinking,” Njeri said.

“I wonder if this area is part of the country. Why have we been forgotten?”