The Kwale county government has started issuing certified maize seeds and mobile corn sheller machines to smallholder farmers ahead of the planting season.
Area Deputy Governor (DG) Fatuma Achani who is leading the distribution exercise said the devolved unit seeks to empower farmers and boost food production.
She said the county government recently procured 20 corn shelling machines to be issued to farmers across the region.
She said the agricultural machine is aimed at relieving subsistence farmers in the region from labour constraints in food production processes.
The machines can shell maize and green grams at the same time and save farmers valuable hours.
The DG said the county is determined to empower smallholder farmers so as to increase the quantity and quality of maize they produce, consume and sell.
Achani said the distribution of the hybrid maize seeds and the manual corn sheller machines has started this week across all the 20 wards spread in the four sub counties of Matuga, Msambweni, Kinango and Lunga Lunga.
She said 1,200 rural farmers will each receive 8kgs of the certified maize seeds to be used during this planting season.
“We will be distributing the hybrid seeds and the sheller machines to the farmers so they can lift themselves out of poverty and thrive in farming” she said on Tuesday while addressing residents of Mwaweche area in Kinando ward, Msambweni Sub County.
Achani urged the residents to practice agribusiness to sustain their needs as well as raise their standards of living.
“We want our farmers to shell their maize produce at ease, as they prepare to store them for future use” she said.
She urged small land holders to embrace new farming ideas and technology that would help maximize their land for production.
She said farmers should also plant drought-resistant crops like cow peas, green grams, sorghum, and cassava.
Achani noted there is a need for farmers to abandon obsolete farming methods and adopt modern agricultural practices to boost food production and eradicate poverty and hunger in the county.
By Hussein Abdullahi
