The Meteorological Department has predicted tougher times ahead as the March to May weather forecast shows that most parts of the country will receive failed or depressed rains.
“The analysis we have done does not promise a lot of rainfall. There may be some delays and we may have long periods where there no rain is recorded. In the long term we will see a situation where some places will get less than average rain,” said David Gikunyu, Director, director of the Meteorological Department.
“Even in terms of farming, and other uses of the main product of rainfall, there should be enough, but the story is about depressed rainfall across most parts of the country,” said Gikunyu.
The country’s food basket regions of Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo Marakwet, and West Pokot will receive depressed rains while the rest of the country will receive highly depressed rainfall or no rain altogether.
This means that the already troubled agricultural sector will face more challenges in the coming few months. The spillover effect of this will be higher food prices.
Kenya is currently battling its worst drought in 40 years which has hurt food production in a country where farming activities are largely dependent on rainfall.
KNBS data shows that the agricultural sector, which is the backbone of the economy, now contributes less than a fifth of Kenya’s economic growth following four consecutive quarters of decline.
The sector registered a 0.2 percent annualised contraction to end a three-year growth expansion, which began after a 1.3 percent decline in 2017.
“The slowdown in the performance of the sector was mainly attributed to unfavourable weather conditions that prevailed in the first three quarters of 2022,” stated KNBS in its latest data.
