Too many farmers in Murang’a County are faced with losses due to increased theft of bananas from their farms. Due to a period of dry weather conditions, banana production has gone down, which has led to an increased demand. This, in turn, has prompted thieves to steal even premature bananas from their farms.
One of the farmers said he was forced to spend most of his time guarding his crops: “There is scarcity of bananas caused by prolonged drought. The demand has gone high leading to creased theft of our produce. Currently, we are forced to spend most of our time protecting our bananas from being stolen.”
The complaints by banana farmers come barely a week after avocado farmers raised similar concerns over increased theft of their fruits. The farmers want the relevant government agencies to curb the theft.
A manager with a local cooperative society which deals with the marketing of bananas said production of bananas in Murang’a County has dropped more than half within a period of less than six months. Now, the cooperative can no longer provide the produce to its customers, who come as far as from Mombasa County.
Source: capitalfm.co.ke