Living on the edge:
Abamarachi number about 90,000. Like the rest of Western Kenya, people here live a subsitence lifestyle growing maize, sorghum, millet and cassava. Besides petty trade in market centres such as Butula, not much else is going on here. Consequently the people are trapped in cycle of poverty with at least 70% living below poverty line.

A World Bank study found that Luhya land is one of the densest and poorest region in the world with up to 1200 persons per km2 in some rural areas especially in Maragoli and Bunyore. The region is characterized by low agricultural productivity, high population pressure and lack of off-farm income opportunities.

Traditional land management in Western Kenya has in the past relied on fallowing of unproductive fields to restore fertility and decrease pest problems. High rural population growth has made this practice untenable, and has led to wide scale abandonment of fallowing and the search for new agricultural land. There has been little restriction on encroachment onto steep slopes, wetlands, or forests, despite the existence of laws and regulations against such practices.

Cassava which is a major subsistence crop in Marachi may benefit from a shs200million investment announced by the Kenya government in May 2007. Last year (2006) cassava production amounted to 248,000 tonnes most of it grown in Busia District. The crop is drought resistant and if the government is honest about the investment program announced, cassava production and processing can kick-start economic revival of Western Province as whole.

Announcing initiatives is one thing; having them implemented is quite another matter and this where the people do not take government announcements seriously. Remember the sugar project announced more than 15 years ago?