Groceries in dry lands

By Christine Mutua

Mutomo District is semi-arid area that receives minimal amounts of rainfall. Crops which thrive here are mainly drought resistant. Finding fresh green vegetables is a herculean task for vendors. They have to travel many Kilometers to the neighboring Kibwezi District to find this rare commodity. Although Kibwezi is dry, it is endowed with one of the largest rivers in the country. Athi River which passes through has enabled farmers to practise river bed irrigation. This is where most vegetables in Mutomo come from.

Vegetable vendor in Mutomo (Photo: Daniel Mwendo/MCV)

Since the dry lands of Mutomo cannot allow survival of groceries, people have been left with limited options: to change diet or practice irrigation. Changing diet is as impossible as finding water to irrigate. This has made vendors to ensure that people are supplied with vegetables. Their common stock of trade includes cabbages, kales, carrots, dhania, tomatoes and potatoes. Mutomo can however, produce traditional high value drought resistant crops like cassava. Vendors from Mutomo town have been facing many challenges in their business.

Kamene a vegetable vendor admits that although there is ready market for their products in the area, they however, face a lot of challenges. Transporting vegetables from distant lands to the marketing point costs a fortune. It is sometimes difficult to pass this cost to the consumer.  Many people in this part of the country live below poverty line and raising the cost of food is only aggravating their problems.

The middle aged woman points at the capital base as a stumbling block to the business. Grocery business in places where food crops are not cultivated requires a large amount of capital. This will sustain it and ensure that there is constant supply of food to the market. Kamene is however optimistic. “We are waiting for the women enterprise fund to be released by government to enable us boost our business. When the money comes I am sure the stock will not run out.”

Groceries are perishable commodities; they need special containers for transportation. This is one of the challenges facing vendors in Mutomo. They have to get these products from either Kitui or Kibwezi. At the end of the day they may run at a loss because they do not have special containers.

Vendors have a reason to smile however, because of the construction of a new market that will enable them to stock and sell their commodities with ease. The county government is almost through with the construction and hope it will be opened soon.

This business has been themajor source of income for the vendors in Mutomo. Kamene being one of the vendors has seen her children through the school because of this business. It has also increased income for the family and improved their livelihood. She hopes that the county government will put the small vegetable vendors in their priorities to enable them supply food minimal challenges to many people in the area.