For years, rice farmers in Kilifi, Kwale, and Taita Taveta counties have battled an unforgiving reality of long hours under the scorching sun, hands bloodied from manual harvesting, and meagre yields that barely sustained their families.
Their rice paddies, once symbols of pride and sustenance, had become fields of struggle where women like Maulidi Mwasema spent entire rainy seasons standing in waterlogged farms, chasing away birds that feasted on their crops as rainwater soaked through their clothes.
Mwasema, a widow from Vanga in Lunga Lunga, knows this hardship all too well. After long days protecting her rice from birds and fighting water-borne diseases during the planting season, she would return home too exhausted to care for her grandchildren.
Her hard-skinned hands told the story of countless farmers along Kenya’s coastal belt who loved their work but were slowly being defeated by outdated tools and harsh conditions. With no protective gear and no mechanization, every harvest became a painful ordeal.
She appealed to both county and national governments to provide modern harvesting machines and protective equipment that could help them during the rainy seasons.
This reality is echoed by fellow farmer Mnyazi Tsuma, also from Vanga, who spoke of health threats that accompany the work. “When this water comes, it comes with insects that give us diseases and skin rashes,” she said. Despite this, she remains committed to rice farming because it has enabled her to educate her children.
However, she has watched other farmers abandon the crop altogether due to the overwhelming challenges. She urged the government to support them with equipment and proper market linkages to make farming more profitable, adding that joining cooperatives is difficult without the means to contribute financially.
The irony is striking. Kenya consumes between 1-1.3 million metric tonnes of rice annually but produces about 200,000-300,000 metric tonnes which is a mere 23 percent of national demand, a situation that is forcing the country to rely heavily on imports.
A new partnership between the Korea Program on International Agriculture (KOPIA) and the National Government through the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) aims to reverse this trend. “This project runs for three years, starting in April 2025 and ending in 2027,” said Dr. John Kimani from KALRO.
The project is training 100 rice farmers per season across demonstration sites in Kaloleni (Kilifi), Vanga (Kwale), and the Kitobo Irrigation Scheme in Taveta. The goal is to increase rice production by at least 30 percent, with potential gains of up to 60 percent if the new practices are fully adopted.
At the centre of the intervention is a new high-yielding rice variety known as Komboka. Regina Kadzo Katana, a farmer, says the training has already changed how they work. The traditional variety took too long to mature but yielded very little. “The new variety of Komboka has higher yields compared to Sigaya and takes a shorter time to maturity,” she explained. She added that better planting practices learned during the training had already improved production, even though some areas still struggle with water shortages.
In Kaloleni, rice farmer Bakari Jeffa has seen the difference first-hand. Demonstration plots compared the Komboka variety with traditional varieties, revealing a major production gap. “Komboka takes only four months to maturity from planting to harvesting,” he said.
Farmers who had never used fertilizer before have now been trained on its importance. “We can now plant rice not only for subsistence but also for sale,” Jeffa said, urging others to apply the lessons learned for greater economic benefit.
But the initiative goes beyond seed selection. According to Dr. Sang Yeol Kim, a rice expert from KOPIA, the project aims to strengthen the entire rice production system. Demonstration plots are teaching farmers Good Agricultural Practices such as row planting with proper spacing, weed management, and water control. These practices significantly raise yields and improve crop health.
Kilifi County Crops Development Officer Joseph Odhiambo noted that under traditional methods farmers harvest less than one tonne per hectare, compared to more than seven tonnes when using Komboka. The county now plans to expand the area under rice from 75 to 253 hectares through the KALRO partnership.
However, he acknowledged that high input costs and climate change continue to challenge farmers, even though subsidized fertilizer at Ksh 2,500 has eased some of the burden.
Mechanization is also being introduced to cut labour costs and boost competitiveness. Agro-dealers and development partners are showcasing new technologies such as direct seeders, improved harvesters, and walking tractors for land preparation which is a welcome development for farmers who have suffered injuries and physical strain for decades.
The greatest potential lies in Taveta, which Dr. Kimani described as having better natural irrigation and water resources than even Mwea and Ahero.
With proper training, infrastructure, and investment, coastal counties could not only meet their own food needs but help Kenya achieve rice self-sufficiency and eventually become an exporter.
The vision aligns with the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, which targets zero rice imports by 2030. “If production increases, farmers will have more income for school fees, treatment, and other basic needs,” Dr. Kimani said.
Though climate change has affected initial demonstration plot performance, Dr. Kim remains optimistic that yields will rise significantly during the main rainy season. Farmers have already begun ordering Komboka seeds for the next planting cycle, demonstrating growing confidence in the project.
For farmers like Mwasema, Tsuma, and hundreds of others along the coast, this initiative represents more than agricultural innovation. It is the long-awaited answer to years of sacrifice. It offers dignity, hope, and the possibility of passing down farming not as a burden, but as a stable and profitable legacy.
