Nairobi — He came, saw and conquered. It took him only one trip to Kenya to discover an agricultural potential Kenyans had ignored for many years.

But critics have never left alone American businessman Calvin Burges ever since he ventured into Yala in 2003 to salvage a rice-farming project that had stalled for more than 20 years.

Sceptics grinned and scowled when he announced he was investing Sh2 billion at the bushy swamp to create jobs and boost Kenya's food production.

The project quickly kicked a controversy but he weathered the storm and transformed the expansive swamp to a model farm.

This was his second attempt to farm in Kenya after a similar effort was thwarted in Nyando District when farmers prevented him from taking over the stalled Ahero Irrigation Rice Scheme.

He once crossed swords with the then PS for Agriculture, Prof Migot Adhola who had opposed his Ahero project.

Born in Edmond, Oklahoma, US, Burges is the President of the Dominion Group, an international firm involved in several farming and construction projects in America, Europe and Africa.

Burges came to the country through the Church and was initially involved in humanitarian projects in Kisumu.

His firm took over the Yala Swamp from the Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA), which had tried to reclaim it with loans from the African Development Bank.

The swamp measures approximately 21,765ha and comprises three small satellite lakes - Kanyaboli, Sare and Namboyo. Scientists said the project would interfere with the bio-diversity of the lakes.

The swamp, one of the largest wetlands in the country, consisted of area 1, which covers 2,300 ha and which the Government reclaimed in 1970. Area 2 is 9,200 ha while Area 3 is 6,000 ha. The LBDA has only been utilising part of the phase 1 area for farming since 1983.

Burges projected that his project would reduce the country's rice imports by up to 40 per cent. Kenya imports about 220,000 metric tonnes of rice annually.

Data at the Ministry of Agriculture show that Kenya produces merely 47,625 tonnes of the 250,000 tonnes that it consumes every year and has its market flooded with cheap imports from Pakistan and other Asian countries.

Experts estimate that Kenya spends about Sh8 billion annually on rice imports due to low domestic production.

Domestic paddy production fluctuates between 35,000 and 50,000 metric tonnes, and with annual consumption increasing by 12 per cent. To make up for the shortfall, Kenya was importing 170,000 metric tonnes of rice annually from Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam.

When he started the project, Burges said his main objective was to reduce poverty and unemployment in the area by more than 50 per cent.

That year, the project had 246 permanent employees and 154 contract employees.

As the project grew, it ventured in other crops such as maize, cotton, sunflower, and atanasia, which is used in the production of malarial drugs.

Burgess says production will be staggered to ensure milling goes on throughout the year. The paddy will be dried at the farm in silos.

The firm has imported state-of-the art farm machinery, many of which have never been seen in Kenya.

Burges says that contrary to critics, his project has reduced the level of poverty. People who were displaced by the project, he adds, voluntarily moved to new sites.

By the time the current crisis arose, the Dominion group had just completed the installation of an ultra modern rice packaging machine worth more than Sh4.5 million in Yala.

The machine was imported from South Africa.

The machine will link with the rice mill and package the rice in five, two and one kilogramme packets for the local market.

Company sources said Nakumatt supermarkets had placed orders.