Migori is a town in Nyanza Province

Nyanza Province

Nyanza Province of Kenya, is one of Kenya's eight administrative provinces. It is located in the southwest part of Kenya around Lake Victoria. Nyanza includes part of the eastern edge of Lake Victoria and is inhabited predominantly by the Luo. There are also Bantu-speaking tribes such as the...

 of Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

. Migori is capital of the Migori District

Migori District

Migori District is an administrative district in the Nyanza Province of Kenya. It is located in southwestern Kenya. Its capital town is Migori. The district has a population of 514,897 and an area of 2,005 km² ....

. The town is located 63 km south of Kisii

Kisii, Kenya

Kisii town, located south-western Kenya, is the main urban and commercial centre in Gusii Highlands. A vibrant town, the Kisii municipality has a population of about 83,000, according to 2008 estimates. However, it has a large dependent metropolitan population of over 100,000 residents, as per the...

 and 22 km north of the Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

n border. The town has an urban population of 31,644 and total population of 46,576 (1999 census http://treasury.go.ke/cbs.go.ke/pdf/authority.pdf).

Migori is connected by road to the Masai Mara

Masai Mara

The Maasai Mara National Reserve is a large game reserve in south-western Kenya, which is effectively the northern continuation of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania...

national park, but the road is in poor condition. Migori town is immediately after Awendo, (where the Sony Sugar Company is situated), Oyani, Stella and Kakrao areas.The road to Isebania is well tarmacked from Kakrao to Mwanza in Tanzania.

Geography

The altitude is roughly 1500 meters at Kakrao descending by 100 metres into the Migori river. The different peaks near the town are a little over 1550 metres above sea level.

Rainfall is in two seasons like the most of Kenya and the highest rainfall is between March and May. Average rainfall is approximately 1200mm and above but the rainfall patterns are unique, as the small town has three rainfall patterns. It could rain in Kakrao but around Onyalo school would be very dry and Namba would have a slight drizzle.

The soils are well drained and tending to loamy. This favors the cultivation of tobacco, sugarcane, maize, beans, coffee, groundnuts and vegetables.

The town is home to the Luo, but recent migration has introduced a significant number of Maragolis. It is not surprising thus, that many villagers around the town speak Maragoli and Luo. There are also significant numbers of Kisiis, Kikuyus(Though the unfortunate skirmishes of 2007 left many of the Kikuyus traumatised). The language of business is Kiswahili which shows the big difference with other Luo dominated towns.

The Church and Mosque life is very vibrant and at times very loud but this is expected to change with the new Noise laws introduced by Nema.

Trade and mining

There has been gold mining activities in the area. Mining was centered in Macalader area of Migori on the way to Muhuru bay.

Most activity is centered on the main highway that crosses the town. Most activity is Small and Micro enterprises largely the Jua Kali with a concentration in auto mechanics, furniture works,tailoring, welding, trade and agriculture. Agricultural produce comes from surrounding areas like Ngege, oyani,anjego etc. Other profit making organisations include Barclays, KCB,K-rep ,family finance ,Co-op and post banks.

There is a National cereals board depot.

Plants and wildlife

Some common trees include Bondo (Euphorbia candelabrum),Ochwoga (Carissa edulis),Mukinduri (Croton megalocarpus), Ngow (Ficus nataliensis), Onera (Terminalia brownii), Toona does well in the area but most trees are multi-branched which may indicate bud borer trouble. Terminalia catappa, Cypress(lusitanica variant) does well in the area and some pine has been grown successfully.

The birdlife here is varied with many records of blue flycatcher, blue spotted wood dove, harrier hawk, bat hawk,baglafecht weaver, tawny eagle, purple grenadier,beautiful sunbird,yellow billed stork,hadada ibis, african citril,cape turtle dove,paradise flycatcher,yellow white eye,white browed robin chat,black headed gonolek,Black kite etc

Schools and colleges

Nyabisawa Girls school


Migori Boys


Kadika Girls


Onyalo Mixed


Migori Teachers College


Oruba Mixed Secondary


Pentagon Academy