Siaya farmers decry Hippo menace

Horticultural farmers along the banks of River Yala in Bondo sub-county are counting losses following rampant destruction of their crops by hippopotamus.

The farmers led by Michael Ochieng Onyina have decried the increasing number of hippopotamus that have severely damaged several acres of their crops over the last one week.

According to Mr Onyina, their vegetable crops including kales (Sukuma wiki), spinach, tomatoes and onions have been damaged.

He stated that the most affected areas are Abom and Ajigo sub-locations, lamenting that their farms that used to produce at 1,000 kilograms of sukuma wiki per day have been completely flattened by the hippos.

Onyina, who was speaking to Radio Ramogi at his Abom farm and whose crops has completely been destroyed, stated that they have now been left helpless because it is through those farms that they were managing to raise their daily bread and pay for their children’s school fees.

He has therefore pleaded with the government through the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) to find a way of restraining the rogue hippos from causing further destructions along the river’s banks.

The farmer suggested the government should confine the hippos at a given place to give them room to continue with their normal farming activities uninterrupted.

The population of Bondo Town and its environs has been depending on vegetables from farmers along the banks of River Yala.