Small holder farmers in Eastern Kenya celebrated when their region received abundant rainfall last year. The farmers now grieve as their bumper maize harvest turns into condemned poison (2 June, BBC). Lack of storage facilities and too much rain that hampered use of the Sun to dry the maize to required standards are to blame.

The Eastern Kenya region now faced with a poisonous bumper harvest, is close to my heart. I conducted a research project in this region and coauthored a book “Agricultural Investment in Eastern Kenya” in 2005.