Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service, Felix Koskei, has said that the recruitment of Agripreneurs is in line with Kenya’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), which aims to prioritize agriculture, to ensure 100 percent food and nutrition security for all Kenyans.
Koskei, who spoke, Friday, after laying the foundation stone at Madaras Senior School and International Curriculum Campus and later inspecting the ongoing works at the Lower Kuja Irrigation Project-Phase II in Nyatike Sub-county-Migori, emphasised that food security, is a key government agenda and Irrigation projects play a critical role in realizing it.
Koskei also unveiled 300 newly recruited youth as Agripreneurs in Migori, which is part of the government’s broader agenda to create job opportunities for young people, particularly by empowering them as agripreneurs, to support local farmers in the rice, sugar, and other productive sectors in the county.
The Agripreneurs, through BETA, also aim to contribute to the long-term development of rural communities by transforming them from subsistence to commercialized farmers, with a focus on youth and digital innovation.
Koskei highlighted that with fifteen counties already completing the recruitment process of agripreneurs, the programme is set to expand, with other counties, continuing to select seven agripreneurs per ward, to provide critical support to farmers as well as economic growth.
The Official, however, called upon the Migori farmers, to continue increasing their produce in the agricultural and fishing sectors to boost the food security in the County.
“Migori County is blessed with good soils and rain and with the interception of subsidized fertilizer our Migori farmers have been empowered to produce more sugarcane, maize and fish, to add to our national basket,” noted Koskei.
Principal Secretary (PS) for Irrigation, Ephantus Kimotho, said that the Lower Kuja Irrigation Project, when completed will generate 70,000 metric tonnes, a contribution of about 10 percent of the total rice production in the country, that currently stands at 700,000 metric tonnes.
Kimotho pointed out that the irrigation scheme, will enhance the food security agenda and create job opportunities along the food production chain that includes processing, marketing and consumption, to improve the incomes of local farmers.
Meanwhile, the Principal Secretary for Agriculture, Paul Ronoh, disclosed that in line with Presidential Directive, the National Irrigation Authority (NIA), has been able to provide a store in its Migori offices, to allow farmers access government subsidized fertilizers, without having to travel 31 kilometres to Migori town.
The PS added that the NIA Migori office, will cut the transportation costs that farmers have been incurring, to transport the subsidized fertilizer from the Migori National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) to Nyatike.
Ronoh also disclosed that the government’s NCPB depots, were open across the country in readiness to buy maize produce from farmers.
“The Government through the Ministry of Agriculture, has set a price of Sh3,500 per 90 kilogrammes bag of maize. We, therefore, urge our maize farmers across the country, including Migori to take their maize to the depots to enjoy good prices,” said Ronoh.
The PS also confirmed that the country was in the process of importing fertilizer, to ensure that farmers access the subsidized fertilizer to continue producing more and boost food security in the country.
He added that it’s through farmer’s empowerment that the country can be able to produce more and reduce dependency on importation, especially on rice and sugar products.
Migori Governor Ochillo Ayacko, who accompanied the Head of Public Service, noted that the tour to assess the progress of the recently launched Kuja Irrigation Block 2.1 project, was a positive indication that the country was moving in the right projection.
Ochilo explained that the ambitious initiative of the irrigation scheme once fully operational, will bring approximately 19,000 acres of land under rice production.
He stressed that the initiative will not only bolster local agricultural output, but also significantly contribute to the country’s food security agenda.
Ochilo also pointed out that the newly unveiled 300 recruited youth agripreneurs, will help the farmers in the County with the technical support, to ensure that farmers produce, increase their income and contribute to the food security of both the county and the country.
By Geoffrey Makokha