NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 19 – Production of paddy rice in Kenya grew by 22 percent to 234,000 metric tonnes last year, the latest data from the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation shows.
This was an improvement from 192,299 metric tonnes in 2022.
High acreage is attributed to the development of new rice schemes and double cropping from the Mwea Irrigation Scheme.
The Ministry data also shows that the area under irrigation grew by 7.2 percent from 664,000 acres to 711,933 in the review period.
The above was implemented under the National Expanded (NEIP) and Community Based Irrigation Schemes (CBIS), among others.
The data also indicates that the volume of water harvested and stored for irrigation grew by 20 percent through the completion of the Thiba dam and community and household water pan projects.
