Kenya History
Think Tanks
HISTORY
Human Prehistory
Wikipedia. The Turkana boy, a 1.6-million-year-old hominid fossil belonging to Homo erectus.
Fossils
found in Kenya have shown that primates inhabited the area for more
than 20 million years. Recent findings near Lake Turkana indicate that
hominids such as Homo habilis (1.8 to 2.5 million years ago) and Homo
erectus (1.9 million to 350,000 years ago) are possible direct ancestors
of modern Homo sapiens, and lived in Kenya in the Pleistocene
epoch.[30]
During
excavations at Lake Turkana in 1984, paleoanthropologist Richard
Leakey, assisted by Kamoya Kimeu, discovered the Turkana Boy, a
1.6-million-year-old Homo erectus fossil. Previous research on early
hominids is particularly identified with Mary Leakey and Louis Leakey,
who were responsible for the preliminary archaeological research at
Olorgesailie and Hyrax Hill. Later work at the former site was
undertaken by Glynn Isaac.[30]
East
Africa, including Kenya, is one of the earliest regions where modern
humans (Homo sapiens) are believed to have lived. Evidence was found in
2018, dating to about 320,000 years ago, at the Kenyan site of
Olorgesailie, of the early emergence of modern behaviours, including
long-distance trade networks (involving goods such as obsidian), the use
of pigments, and the possible making of projectile points. The authors
of three 2018 studies on the site observed that the evidence of these
behaviours is approximately contemporary to the earliest known Homo
sapiens fossil remains (such as at Jebel Irhoud in Morocco and Florisbad
in South Africa), and they suggest that complex and modern behaviours
had already begun in Africa around the time of the emergence of Homo
sapiens.[31][32][33]
Neolithic
The
first inhabitants of present-day Kenya were hunter-gatherer groups,
akin to the modern Khoisan speakers.[34] These people were later largely
replaced by agropastoralist Cushitic (ancestral to Kenya's Cushitic
speakers) from the Horn of Africa.[35] During the early Holocene, the
regional climate shifted from dry to wetter conditions, providing an
opportunity for the development of cultural traditions such as
agriculture and herding, in a more favourable environment.[34]
Around
500 BC, Nilotic-speaking pastoralists (ancestral to Kenya's Nilotic
speakers) started migrating from present-day southern Sudan into
Kenya.[16][36][37] Nilotic groups in Kenya include the Kalenjin,
Samburu, Luo, Turkana, and Maasai.[38]
By
the first millennium AD, Bantu-speaking farmers had moved into the
region, initially along the coast.[39] The Bantus originated in West
Africa along the Benue River in what is now eastern Nigeria and western
Cameroon.[40] The Bantu migration brought new developments in
agriculture and ironworking to the region.[40] Bantu groups in Kenya
include the Kikuyu, Luhya, Kamba, Kisii, Meru, Kuria, Aembu, Ambeere,
Wadawida-Watuweta, Wapokomo, and Mijikenda, among others.
Notable
prehistoric sites in the interior of Kenya include the (possibly
archaeoastronomical) site Namoratunga on the west side of Lake Turkana
and the walled settlement of Thimlich Ohinga in Migori County.
Swahili trade period
Further information: Swahili culture and Sultanate of Zanzibar
A traditional Swahili carved wooden door in Lamu.
The
Kenyan coast had served host to communities of ironworkers and Bantu
subsistence farmers, hunters, and fishers who supported the economy with
agriculture, fishing, metal production, and trade with foreign
countries. These communities formed the earliest city-states in the
region, which were collectively known as Azania.[41]
By
the 1st century CE, many of the city-states such as Mombasa, Malindi,
and Zanzibar began to establish trading relations with Arabs. This led
to increased economic growth of the Swahili states, the introduction of
Islam, Arabic influences on the Swahili Bantu language, cultural
diffusion, as well as the Swahili city-states becoming members of a
larger trade network.[42][43] Many historians had long believed that the
city-states were established by Arab or Persian traders, but
archaeological evidence has led scholars to recognise the city-states as
an indigenous development which, though subjected to foreign influence
due to trade, retained a Bantu cultural core.[44]
The
Kilwa Sultanate was a medieval sultanate centred at Kilwa, in
modern-day Tanzania. At its height, its authority stretched over the
entire length of the Swahili Coast, including Kenya. It was said to be
founded in the 10th century by Ali ibn al-Hassan Shirazi,[45] a Persian
Sultan from Shiraz in southern Iran.[46] However, scholars have
suggested that claims of Arab or Persian origin of city-states were
attempts by the Swahili to legitimise themselves both locally and
internationally.[47][48] Since the 10th century, rulers of Kilwa would
go on to build elaborate coral mosques and introduce copper coinage.[49]
Swahili,
a Bantu language with Arabic, Persian, and other Middle-Eastern and
South Asian loanwords, later developed as a lingua franca for trade
between the different peoples.[41] Swahili now also has loanwords from
English.
Early Portuguese colonization
Portuguese
presence in Kenya lasted from 1498 until 1730. Mombasa was under
Portuguese rule from 1593 to 1698 and again from 1728 to 1729.
The
Swahili built Mombasa into a major port city and established trade
links with other nearby city-states, as well as commercial centres in
Persia, Arabia, and even India.[50] By the 15th-century, Portuguese
voyager Duarte Barbosa claimed that ""Mombasa is a place of great
traffic and has a good harbour in which there are always moored small
craft of many kinds and also great ships, both of which are bound from
Sofala and others which come from Cambay and Melinde and others which
sail to the island of Zanzibar.""[51]
In
the 17th century, the Swahili coast was conquered and came under the
direct rule of the Omani Arabs, who expanded the slave trade to meet the
demands of plantations in Oman and Zanzibar.[52] Initially, these
traders came mainly from Oman, but later many came from Zanzibar (such
as Tippu Tip).[53] In addition, the Portuguese started buying slaves
from the Omani and Zanzibari traders in response to the interruption of
the transatlantic slave trade by British abolitionists.
Throughout
the centuries, the Kenyan coast has played host to many merchants and
explorers. Among the cities that line the Kenyan coast is Malindi. It
has remained an important Swahili settlement since the 14th century and
once rivalled Mombasa for dominance in the African Great Lakes region.
Malindi has traditionally been a friendly port city for foreign powers.
In 1414, the Chinese trader and explorer Zheng He, representing the Ming
Dynasty, visited the East African coast on one of his last 'treasure
voyages'.[54] Malindi authorities also welcomed the Portuguese explorer
Vasco da Gama in 1498.
18th-19th Centuries
During
the 18th and 19th century B.C.E, the Masai people moved into what is
now modern-day Central Kenya from a region north of Lake Rudolf.
Although there were not many, they managed to conquer a great amount of
Bantu-speaking peoples, who did not put up much resistance. The Nandi
peoples managed to oppose the Masai, while the Taveta peoples fled to
the forests on the eastern edge of Mount Kilimanjaro, along with the
Kikuyu peoples, although they later were forced to leave the land due to
the threat of smallpox. An outbreak of either rinderpest or
pleuropneumonia greatly affected the Masai's cattle, while an epidemic
of smallpox affected the Masai themselves. After the death of the Masai
Mbatian, the chief laibon (medicine man), the Masai split into warring
factions. Although Arab traders remained in the area, trade routes were
disrupted by the hostile Masai. The first foreigners to successfully get
past the Masai were Johann Ludwig Krapf and Johannes Rebmann, two
German missionaries who established a mission in Rabai, not too far from
Mombasa.
British Kenya (1888–1962)
British East Africa in 1909
The
colonial history of Kenya dates from the establishment of a German
protectorate over the Sultan of Zanzibar's coastal possessions in 1885,
followed by the arrival of the Imperial British East Africa Company in
1888. Imperial rivalry was prevented when Germany handed its coastal
holdings to Britain in 1890. This was followed by the building of the
Uganda Railway passing through the country.[55]
The
building of the railway was resisted by some ethnic groups—notably the
Nandi, led by Orkoiyot Koitalel Arap Samoei from 1890 to 1900—but the
British eventually built it. The Nandi were the first ethnic group to be
put in a native reserve to stop them from disrupting the building of
the railway.[55]
During
the railway construction era, there was a significant influx of Indian
workers, who provided the bulk of the skilled manpower required for
construction.[56] They and most of their descendants later remained in
Kenya and formed the core of several distinct Indian communities, such
as the Ismaili Muslim and Sikh communities.[57]
While
building the railway through Tsavo, a number of the Indian railway
workers and local African labourers were attacked by two lions known as
the Tsavo maneaters.[58]
At
the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the governors of British
East Africa (as the protectorate was generally known) and German East
Africa initially agreed on a truce in an attempt to keep the young
colonies out of direct hostilities. But Lieutenant Colonel Paul von
Lettow-Vorbeck, the German military commander, determined to tie down as
many British resources as possible. Completely cut off from Germany,
Lettow-Vorbeck conducted an effective guerrilla warfare campaign, living
off the land, capturing British supplies, and remaining undefeated. He
eventually surrendered in Northern Rhodesia (today Zambia) 14 days after
the Armistice was signed in 1918.[56]
The Kenya–Uganda Railway near Mombasa, about 1899.
To
chase von Lettow, the British deployed the British Indian Army troops
from India but needed large numbers of porters to overcome the
formidable logistics of transporting supplies far into the interior on
foot. The Carrier Corps was formed and ultimately mobilised over 400,000
Africans, contributing to their long-term politicisation.[56]
In 1920, the East Africa Protectorate was turned into a colony and renamed Kenya after its highest mountain.[55]
During
the early part of the 20th century, the interior central highlands were
settled by British and other European farmers, who became wealthy
farming coffee and tea.[59] One depiction of this period of change from a
colonist's perspective is found in the memoir Out of Africa by Danish
author Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke, published in 1937. By the
1930s, approximately 30,000 white settlers lived in the area and gained a
political voice because of their contribution to the market
economy.[56]
The
central highlands were already home to over a million members of the
Kikuyu people, most of whom had no land claims in European terms and
lived as itinerant farmers. To protect their interests, the settlers
banned the growing of coffee and introduced a hut tax, and the landless
were granted less and less land in exchange for their labour. A massive
exodus to the cities ensued as their ability to make a living from the
land dwindled.[56] By the 1950s, there were 80,000 white settlers living
in Kenya.[60]
Throughout
World War II, Kenya was an important source of manpower and agriculture
for the United Kingdom. Kenya itself was the site of fighting between
Allied forces and Italian troops in 1940–41, when Italian forces
invaded. Wajir and Malindi were bombed as well.
In
1952, Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip were on holiday
at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya when her father, King George VI, died in
his sleep. Elizabeth cut short her trip and returned home immediately to
assume the throne. She was crowned Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster
Abbey in 1953 and as British hunter and conservationist Jim Corbett (who
accompanied the royal couple) put it, she went up a tree in Africa a
princess and came down a queen.[61]
Mau Mau Uprising
Further information: Mau Mau Uprising
A statue of Dedan Kimathi, a Kenyan rebel leader with the Mau Mau who fought against the British colonial system in the 1950s.
From
October 1952 to December 1959, Kenya was in a state of emergency
arising from the Mau Mau rebellion against British rule. The Mau Mau,
also known as the Kenya Land and Freedom Army, were primarily Kikuyu
people.[citation needed]
The
governor requested and obtained British and African troops, including
the King's African Rifles. The British began counter-insurgency
operations. In May 1953, General Sir George Erskine took charge as
commander-in-chief of the colony's armed forces, with the personal
backing of Winston Churchill.[62]
The
capture of Waruhiu Itote (nom de guerre ""General China"") on 15
January 1954 and the subsequent interrogation led to a better
understanding of the Mau Mau command structure for the British.
Operation Anvil opened on 24 April 1954, after weeks of planning by the
army with the approval of the War Council. The operation effectively
placed Nairobi under military siege. Nairobi's occupants were screened
and suspected Mau Mau supporters moved to detention camps. More than
80,000 Kikuyu were held in detention camps without trial, often subject
to brutal treatment.[63] The Home Guard formed the core of the
government's strategy as it was composed of loyalist Africans, not
foreign forces such as the British Army and King's African Rifles. By
the end of the emergency, the Home Guard had killed 4,686 Mau Mau,
amounting to 42% of the total insurgents.[citation needed]
The
capture of Dedan Kimathi on 21 October 1956 in Nyeri signified the
ultimate defeat of the Mau Mau and essentially ended the military
offensive.[62] During this period, substantial governmental changes to
land tenure occurred. The most important of these was the Swynnerton
Plan, which was used to both reward loyalists and punish Mau Mau.
Somalis of Kenya referendum, 1962
Further information: Somalis in Kenya
Before
Kenya got its independence, Somali ethnic people in present-day Kenya
in the areas of Northern Frontier Districts petitioned Her Majesty's
Government not to be included in Kenya. The colonial government decided
to hold Kenya's first referendum in 1962 to check the willingness of
Somalis in Kenya to join Somalia.[64]
The
result of the referendum showed that 86% of Somalis in Kenya wanted to
join Somalia, but the British colonial administration rejected the
result and the Somalis remained in Kenya.[65][66]
Independence
The first president and founding father of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta.
The first direct elections for native Kenyans to the Legislative Council took place in 1957.
Despite
British hopes of handing power to ""moderate"" local rivals, it was the
Kenya African National Union (KANU) of Jomo Kenyatta that formed a
government. The Colony of Kenya and the Protectorate of Kenya each came
to an end on 12 December 1963, with independence conferred on all of
Kenya. The U.K. ceded sovereignty over the Colony of Kenya. The Sultan
of Zanzibar agreed that simultaneous with independence for the colony,
he would cease to have sovereignty over the Protectorate of Kenya so
that all of Kenya would become one sovereign state.[67][68] In this way,
Kenya became an independent country under the Kenya Independence Act
1963 of the United Kingdom. On 12 December 1964, Kenya became a republic
under the name ""Republic of Kenya"".[67]
Concurrently,
the Kenyan army fought the Shifta War against ethnic Somali rebels
inhabiting the Northern Frontier District who wanted to join their kin
in the Somali Republic to the north.[69] A ceasefire was eventually
reached with the signing of the Arusha Memorandum in October 1967, but
relative insecurity prevailed through 1969.[70][71] To discourage
further invasions, Kenya signed a defence pact with Ethiopia in 1969,
which is still in effect.[72]
The first president of Kenya
Further information: Presidency of Jomo Kenyatta and Jomo Kenyatta
On
12 December 1964, the Republic of Kenya was proclaimed, and Jomo
Kenyatta became Kenya's first president.[73] Under Kenyatta, corruption
became widespread throughout the government, civil service, and business
community. Kenyatta and his family were tied up with this corruption as
they enriched themselves through the mass purchase of property after
1963. Their acquisitions in the Central, Rift Valley, and Coast
Provinces aroused great anger among landless Kenyans. His family used
his presidential position to circumvent legal or administrative
obstacles to acquiring property. The Kenyatta family also heavily
invested in the coastal hotel business, with Kenyatta personally owning
the Leonard Beach Hotel.[74]
Kenyatta's
mixed legacy was highlighted at the 10-year anniversary of Kenya's
independence. A December 1973 article in The New York Times praised
Kenyatta's leadership and Kenya for emerging as a model of pragmatism
and conservatism. Kenya's GDP had increased at an annual rate of 6.6%,
higher than the population growth rate of more than 3%.[75] But Amnesty
International responded to the article by stating the cost of the
stability in terms of human rights abuses. The opposition party started
by Oginga Odinga—Kenya People's Union (KPU)—was banned in 1969 after the
Kisumu Massacre and KPU leaders were still in detention without trial
in gross violation of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights.[76][77] The
Kenya Students Union, Jehovah Witnesses and all opposition parties were
outlawed.[76] Kenyatta ruled until his death on 22 August 1978.[78]
Moi era
Daniel arap Moi, Kenya's second President, and George W. Bush, 2001
Further
information: Daniel arap Moi, Presidency of Daniel Moi, 1978 Kenyan
presidential election, 1988 Kenyan general election, and 1992 Kenyan
general election
After
Kenyatta died, Daniel arap Moi became president. He retained the
presidency, running unopposed in elections held in 1979, 1983 (snap
elections), and 1988, all of which were held under the single-party
constitution. The 1983 elections were held a year early, and were a
direct result of a failed military coup on 2 August 1982.
The
1982 coup was masterminded by a low-ranking Air Force serviceman,
Senior Private Hezekiah Ochuka, and was staged mainly by enlisted men of
the Air Force. It was quickly suppressed by forces commanded by Chief
of General Staff Mahamoud Mohamed, a veteran Somali military
official.[79] They included the General Service Unit (GSU)—a
paramilitary wing of the police—and later the regular police.
On
the heels of the Garissa Massacre of 1980, Kenyan troops committed the
Wagalla massacre in 1984 against thousands of civilians in Wajir County.
An official probe into the atrocities was later ordered in
2011.[80][clarification needed]
The
election held in 1988 saw the advent of the mlolongo (queuing) system,
where voters were supposed to line up behind their favoured candidates
instead of casting a secret ballot.[81] This was seen as the climax of a
very undemocratic regime and led to widespread agitation for
constitutional reform. Several contentious clauses, including the one
that allowed for only one political party, were changed in the following
years.[82]
Transition to multiparty democracy
In
1991, Kenya transitioned to a multiparty political system after 26
years of single-party rule. On 28 October 1992, Moi dissolved
parliament, five months before the end of his term. As a result,
preparations began for all elective seats in parliament as well as the
president. The election was scheduled to take place on 7 December 1992,
but delays led to its postponement to 29 December. Apart from KANU, the
ruling party, other parties represented in the elections included FORD
Kenya and FORD Asili. This election was marked by large-scale
intimidation of opponents and harassment of election officials. It
resulted in an economic crisis propagated by ethnic violence as the
president was accused of rigging electoral results to retain
power.[83][84][85] This election was a turning point for Kenya as it
signified the beginning of the end of Moi's leadership and the rule of
KANU. Moi retained the presidency and George Saitoti became vice
president. Although it held on to power, KANU won 100 seats and lost 88
seats to the six opposition parties.[83][85]
The
1992 elections marked the beginning of multiparty politics after more
than 25 years of KANU rule.[83] Following skirmishes in the aftermath of
the elections, 5,000 people were killed and another 75,000 displaced
from their homes.[86] In the next five years, many political alliances
were formed in preparation for the next elections. In 1994, Jaramogi
Oginga Odinga died and several coalitions joined his FORD Kenya party to
form a new party, United National Democratic Alliance. This party was
plagued with disagreements. In 1995, Richard Leakey formed the Safina
party, but it was denied registration until November 1997.[87]
In
1996, KANU revised the constitution to allow Moi to remain president
for another term. Subsequently, Moi stood for reelection and won a 5th
term in 1997.[88] His win was strongly criticised by his major
opponents, Kibaki and Odinga, as fraudulent.[87][89] Following this win,
Moi was constitutionally barred from another presidential term.
Beginning in 1998, he attempted to influence the country's succession
politics to have Uhuru Kenyatta elected in the 2002 elections.[90]
President Kibaki and the road to a new constitution
Further information: Mwai Kibaki, Presidency of Mwai Kibaki, 2002 Kenyan general election, and 2007 Kenyan general election
Moi's
plan to be replaced by Uhuru Kenyatta failed, and Mwai Kibaki, running
for the opposition coalition ""National Rainbow Coalition"" (NARC), was
elected president. David Anderson (2003) reports the elections were
judged free and fair by local and international observers, and seemed to
mark a turning point in Kenya's democratic evolution.[89]
In
2005, Kenyans rejected a plan to replace the 1963 independence
constitution with a new one.[91] As a result, the elections of 2007 took
place following the procedure set by the old constitution. Kibaki was
reelected in highly contested elections marred by political and ethnic
violence. The main opposition leader, Raila Odinga, claimed the election
was rigged and that he was the rightfully elected president. In the
ensuing violence, 1,500 people were killed and another 600,000
internally displaced, making it the worst post-election violence in
Kenya. To stop the death and displacement of people, Kibaki and Odinga
agreed to work together, with the latter taking the position of a prime
minister.[92] This made Odinga the second prime minister of Kenya.
In
July 2010, Kenya partnered with other East African countries to form
the new East African Common Market within the East African
Community.[93] In August 2010, Kenyans held a referendum and passed a
new constitution, which limited presidential powers and devolved the
central government.[87]
Devolution of government and separation of powers
Further information: Administrative divisions of Kenya, Constitution of Kenya, and Presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta
Following
the passage of the new constitution, Kenya became a presidential
representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Kenya is
both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system.
The new constitution also states that executive powers are exercised by
the executive branch of government, headed by the president, who chairs a
cabinet composed of people chosen from outside parliament. Legislative
power is vested exclusively in Parliament. The judiciary is independent
of the executive and the legislature.
Government and politics under 2010 constitution
Kibaki era
Mwai
Kibaki became the first president to serve under this new constitution
while Uhuru Kenyatta became the first president elected under this
constitution.
In 2011, Kenya began sending troops to Somalia to fight the terror group Al-Shabaab.[94]
In
mid-2011, two consecutive missed rainy seasons precipitated the worst
drought in East Africa in 60 years. The northwestern Turkana region was
especially affected,[95] with local schools shut down as a result.[96]
The crisis was reportedly over by early 2012 because of coordinated
relief efforts. Aid agencies subsequently shifted their emphasis to
recovery initiatives, including digging irrigation canals and
distributing plant seeds.[97]
Kibaki ruled from 2002 to 2013.
Uhuru Kenyatta in 2014
President Kenyatta first term
After
Kibaki's tenure ended in 2013, Kenya held its first general elections
after the new constitution had been passed. Uhuru Kenyatta won in a
disputed election result, leading to a petition by the opposition
leader, Raila Odinga. The supreme court upheld the election results and
Kenyatta began his term with William Ruto as deputy president. Despite
this ruling, the Supreme Court and the head of the Supreme Court were
seen as powerful institutions that could check the powers of the
president.[98]
President Kenyatta second term
In
2017, Kenyatta won a second term in office in another disputed
election. Odinga again petitioned the results in the Supreme Court,
accusing the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission of
mismanagement of the elections and Kenyatta and his party of rigging.
The Supreme Court overturned the election results in what became a
landmark ruling in Africa and one of the very few in the world in which
the results of a presidential elections were annulled.[99] This ruling
solidified the position of the Supreme Court as an independent
body.[100]
Consequently,
Kenya had a second round of elections for the presidential position, in
which Kenyatta emerged the winner after Odinga refused to participate,
citing irregularities.[101][102]
After 2018 Kenya handshake
The
historic handshake in March 2018 between Kenyatta and his longtime
opponent Odinga meant reconciliation followed by economic growth and
increased stability.[103][104]
BBI Initiative
Main article: Constitution of Kenya § BBI Initiative
Between
2019 and 2021, Kenyatta and Odinga combined efforts to promote major
changes to the Kenyan constitution, labelled the ""Building Bridges
Initiative"" (BBI), saying that their efforts were to improve inclusion
and overcome the country's winner-take-all election system that often
resulted in post-election violence.[105][106]
The
BBI proposal called for broad expansion of the legislative and
executive branches, including the creation of a prime minister with two
deputies and an official leader of the opposition, reverting to
selecting cabinet ministers from among the elected Members of
Parliament, establishment of up to 70 new constituencies, and addition
of up to 300 unelected members of Parliament (under an ""affirmative
action"" plan).[105][106]
Critics
saw this as an unnecessary attempt to reward political dynasties and
blunt the efforts of Deputy President Willian Ruto (Odinga's rival for
the next presidency) and bloat the government at an exceptional cost to
the debt-laded country.[105][106]
Ultimately,
in May 2021, the Kenyan High Court ruled that the BBI constitutional
reform effort was unconstitutional, because it was not truly a popular
initiative, but rather an effort of the government.[105][106]
The
court sharply criticized Kenyatta for the attempt, laying out out
grounds for his being sued, personally, or even impeached (though the
Parliament, which had passed the BBI, was unlikely to do that). The
ruling was seen as a major defeat for both Kenyatta (soon to leave
office), and Odinga (expected to seek the presidency), but a boon to
Odinga's future presidential-election rival, Ruto.[105][106] On 20
August 2021, Kenya's Court of Appeal again upheld the High Court
Judgment of May 2021, which was appealed by the BBI Secretariat.[107]"
"Rice Farming in Kenya
Rice
is Kenya’s third staple food after maize and wheat. Rice Farming in
Kenya is estimated at between 33,000 and 50,000 metric tonnes, while
consumption is between 180,000 and 250,000 tonnes. About 95 percent of
rice in Kenya is grown under irrigation in paddy schemes managed by the
National Irrigation Board (NIB). The remaining five percent is rain-fed.
The average unit production under irrigation is 5.5 tonnes a hectare
for the aromatic variety, and seven tonnes for non-aromatic varieties.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Government of Kenya Data
Rice Farming in Kenya – Seedling Production
To produce healthy seedlings, the following should be done:-
Seed selection. Select plump and healthy seeds.
Seed pre-treatment. This is practiced to ensure better germination of seeds and better growth of
seedlings. It involves:
Seed disinfection. Hot water treatment is effective in destroying the nematodes, which cause white tip disease.
Seed soaking. In order to supply the required moisture for germination, shorten the germination period and reduce seed rotting.
Pre-sprouting.
The seeds are drained and covered with grass for 24 to 48 hours. This
ensures uniform seed germination, avoids over sprouting and allows air
circulation for germination.
Rice Farming in Kenya – Sowing
Sowing
about 80 to 100 g/m² is normal practice. The seeds are broadcasted
uniformly. The nursery bed should not be submerged after sowing and a
seed rate of about 20kg/acre (50kg/ha) should be used.
Rice Farming in Kenya – Seedbed Preparation
Plowing
should be done at least 2 weeks before sowing and flooding. Puddle 1
week before sowing and prepare a raised nursery bed. The nursery bed
should be drained the day before sowing to stabilize the surface of the
soil.
Rice Farming in Kenya – Main Land Preparation
Under
irrigation: Land preparation is carried out by flooding the fields to a
depth of 10 cm and then cultivating by the use of a tractor. The land
should be tilled and immediately flooded at least 15 days before
transplanting or direct sowing. Under rain-fed situation: Land should be
plowed twice and harrowed once.
Rice Farming in Kenya – Transplanting
Planting
should be before the onset of long rains for rainfed rice. It is
important to transplant from the nursery as soon as the seedlings are
big enough. Seedlings are said to be ready for transplanting after a
period of between 3 to 4 weeks depending on daylight, temperatures, and
the variety.
Rice Farming in Kenya – Spacing
Seedlings are spaced according to the tillering ability of a variety.
Rice Farming in Kenya – Seedling Rate
Two
to three seedlings for low tillering varieties. one to two seedlings
per hill are more suitable for good rooting and tillering. Higher
seeding rates increase competition for the available nutrients hence
should be discouraged.
Rice Farming in Kenya – Planting Depth
Practice
shallow planting of about 3 cm depth for vigorous initial growth and
will result in good rooting and tillering. Deep transplanting delays and
reduces tillering resulting in non-uniform crop growth and ripening,
resulting in yield losses. Seedlings should be transplanted in an
upright position to allow correct tillering and rooting.
Rice Farming in Kenya – Main field water management
Water
is applied to the rice field for the use of the rice plant and also for
suppressing weed growth. For this reason, it is important to practice
appropriate water management throughout the growing period of a rice
crop. In lowland rice fields, water comes from rainfall and irrigation.
Water is lost by transpiration, evaporation, seepage, and percolation.
Prevent water loss by:
Repairing levees to minimize seepage.
Removal of weeds to avoid competition with rice plants for water.
Increasing the height of levees to prevent surface run-off water.
Rice Farming in Kenya – Pests and Diseases
Rice Diseases
Three Major Rice Diseases:
Blast
Rice yellow mottle virus transmitted by beetles
Rice Pests
Main pests in rice include:-
• Stem Borers
• Leaf Miners
• Root Cutting Insects
Rice Farming in Kenya – Pests and Disease Control
Chemical
Cultural methods
Clean seed
Crop rotation
Field hygiene
Biological control
Rice Farming in Kenya – Harvesting
Time from planting to harvest varies between 4 to 6 months. Rice is cut, swathed, threshed, winnowed and dried.
Rice Farming in Kenya – Storage
Rice should be stored in warehouses with good circulation of air, with no contamination of dust and water.