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Water-Driven Posho Mills Make a Comeback
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 03 July 2007 07:15
To cut down on costs of milling grain, the staple food of the Abagusii and Luo communities living in Nyanza Province, water driven posho mills have been reinvented.Traditional water driven posho mills, which were faster than a grinding stone, were common several decades ago before diesel powered ones took over.
These traditional mills were also cost effective. All one needed was a river.In Kisii, the mills, known as entinga ya amache, dotted rivers in Gucha and Ramacha at Kenyerere, Riaisoe, Nyambunde, Riana and Daraja Mbili. Influential people in the community mostly owned them.The construction is fairly straightforward. First, rapids or cataracts must be identified along a river's course.
A channel is then dug to divert the river into a house below the rapid or cataract.The channel has a wooden sluice.A propeller shaft with wooden blades, fitted with two spherical stones at the either end, is suspended into a water chamber. The water's force turns the propeller, which in turn moves the two stones up and down, grinding the maize or finger millet that is poured in from an opening in the sluice.
The fineness of the flour will depend on the adjustments by the miller.The water driven posho mill is manual and takes a longer time than an electric or diesel propelled mill to grind a bag of grain. Usually, customers are forced to leave baskets of grain overnight for milling.
But to the customers' advantage, charges at water driven mills are lower compared to other two types of mills.After milling, the diverted water is allowed to rejoin the river through a second gate.
The water mill technology is so simple that breakdowns are rare.With the advent of diesel driven posho mills, the popularity of water mills started to wane. The mills were rendered obsolete when electric grinders arrived.
But diesel and electric posho mills are prone to mechanical defects, some lasting as long as a week or more.The cost of spare parts is high and diesel mills require locations near a water source.Milling grain using diesel and electricity, though convenient, is therefore expensive.But water driven posho mills are limited due to lack of water. Rivers no longer large water masses while some have dried up. Similarly, due to encroachment on water catchments, the volume of water in the rivers has fallen.
Planting blue gum trees, which consume a lot of water, along riverbanks has also contributed to changes in river regimes.At a time when the government and international community are emphasising environmental conservation, it may be unethical to sanction water mills on rivers but it is the only alternative for the rural populace.
Proponents of technological advancement are also likely to dismiss the idea as retrogressive.But supporters of the idea say with appropriate technology, water mills can be improved to serve rural folk better.Some Asian countries are at it and are doing well.The protagonists aver that the government should review the laws prohibiting diversion of river water for personal use.
This will encourage entrepreneurship through the establishment of water mills and micro-irrigation schemes.The possibilities of harnessing rivers for hydro-electricity should be explored to make grain milling cheaper.It costs Sh5 to mill a kilogramme of maize at an electric posho mill in the village.If licensed, water mills should be controlled to deter unscrupulous individuals from exploiting ordinary folk and messing up with the environment.
