At a time when farmers in many parts of Ukambani are staring at a bleak future following massive crop failure, one farm in the drier parts of Mutomo in Kitui County stands out as an oasis of life, thriving against the blistering sun.
The usually dry region has borne the brunt of inadequate rains during the October-December season, exacerbated by the current dry conditions.
Hopes of a bumper harvest have dashed, with entire crops drying up in the fields. "It is a total loss.
There will be a food crisis in the region because the rains have failed," laments Nicodemus Kyambati, a farmer from Kyandula village in Ikutha, who has started uprooting the withered maize stalks from his 22-acre farm to use as animal feed.
