Traders bank on beans as weather affects other cereals in Trans Nzoia

Trans Nzoia, Kenya: Dealers in cereals in Trans Nzoia County are expected to cash in from the sale of beans which is in high demand this season following low production.

Farmers who have already began harvesting the crop have however noted a slight improvement in the yields in the second harvest that began late October.

In the agricultural rich Trans Nzoia and neighbouring counties in North Rift, farmers grow beans crop twice in a year and this time round the initial recorded yields were lower compared to the previous.

During the first harvest between July and August, a number of farmers recorded a reduction following a prolonged dry spell in the months of April and May.

County Crops Officer Kenneth Kagai revealed the dry spell caused poor growth as flowers dried out due to wilting of the crop as a result of the scorching sun.

"Sometime in late May the region experienced low rainfall amounts when most of the bean crop in farms within were at their flowering stages leading to poor formation of pods," he said

Farmers hence incurred huge losses as a result of vagaries of the weather that led to low harvests even as farmers laboured more to increase production for the subsequent season.

While the region braced for an acute shortage of the cereal, dealers in the commodity have set high prices reselling the produce at Sh 6,000 per 90 kilogram bag up from Sh 4,500 it cost last year.

However, consumers are optimistic that the price will slightly drop by the end of December harvest season following the slight improvement in production in the last bean cultivation season in the year.