Over the course of my duties, I have had an opportunity to travel widely in all the counties that make the greater Ukambani (Machakos, Kitui and Makueni) or Eastern south as it is sometimes called. Some of what I have come across is indeed enough to make a grown man shed tears, I know I have and I won't deny it.

Sometime last year, I remember travelling around the areas of Makindu, Kibwezi, Makueni, Machakos, Kathonzweni and surrounding areas and honestly these guys need all the help they can get. I recall it had rained a few weeks prior and the one thing that struck me was they had actually tilled the land, wakapanda chakula and then the rains, as they are wont to, failed. And I remember asking myself, seriously, hii river tana that has flowed since eternity, what would it take to harness even a fraction of that water for irrigation purposes?

The one thing I noticed about them is that they are extremely hard working people and I dare say this: they do not need gov't handouts, convinced as some of us are about the same. Give these guys water for irrigation and watch them impress you with the level of hard work they're ready to put in to get the harvest. These guys are some of the hardest working Kenyans I ever met and honestly, our gov't has failed them big time!!

Over in Kitui, Mwingi, Muthale, Mutomo, etc areas, the story is replicated all over. But here I noticed one more thing: girls drop out of school very early. And so I sought to know why. Apparently, due to resource constraints, some of the families prioritize education of boys while girls remain at home to assist with household chores such as fetching water, etc. What this means is that a significant no. of girls begin their education late and it is not uncommon to find a 16yr old in class 7 or 8. Of course with all the challenges of puberty, the raging hormones and attendant teenage rebellion, not to forget constant ridicule by some of their younger colleagues, most drop out and get married shortly and thus we end up with a situation where subsequent generations end up being poorer than the preceding ones. All because of what? I have always maintained that what Ukambani needs, over and above all else, is water period. Whoever gives them water will be assured of my vote in perpetuity.

Flashback to the mid 2000s. At the time I worked in a part of coast that was in the midst of a major famine. Funny thing is, whenever I went to the local markets there actually was always food. Then it hit me: the famine was not because of lack of food, this was there in plenty. The problem actually was that the bulk of the population was unable to afford the food that was there. In other words, low household incomes was the problem.

In all these cases, and many others I'm sure, provision of relief food and other handouts isn't really a solution. What our people need is, first and foremost, water for irrigation na hizo vitu zingine zitajileta tu. Yaani something as basic as this can easily set an entire region so much far backward and ends up affecting even education as well as health care. After all, a child who spends most of his/her time looking for water doesn't have much time for school and at the same time, poor nutrition is never far behind, and this has implications on general well being as well as productivity.

There's no way this country will ever move forward as long as we take our agricultural productivity for granted. There surely must be a reason why the developed world, including Japan and Russia, hold farm/agricultural subsidies as sacrosanct. They recognize the value of agriculture in so far as their entire economies are concerned. After all, the agrarian revolution preceded the industrial revolution.

Over to Kenya, what do we have? Millions of our youth roam our streets in the ever elusive job search yet thousands upon thousands of acres of land in some of their rural areas lie fallow. Misplaced priorities? You be the judge.

@Rankaz, i like your analysis. I also agree with your analysis of the Wakamba: hardworking and goodnatured people. BUT i disagree with the notion that much food will allevoiate poverty. If this was true, agriculturally rich counties like Nyandarua would be full of rich people but this is not the case. Infact, abundance sometimes slows down innovation and makes people lazy

Ditto

I'll also add this, 'My people die for lack of knowledge'. Why do we take our children to school? I think it a misconception to think that we send them to school so that they can get jobs in future!!! No No No. Unfortunately I think that why my grandpas sent my unties and uncles to school. I'll send you to school so that whatever it is you learn there, you'll come back and implement it here!

I have a relative with acres of prime fertile land, earning peanuts with flimsy construction jobs, while the one son is a taxi-driver and the other an office messenger! If this is the story in so many families, can we surely blame gava or anybody else?