In a bid to ensure a successful second phase of farmers’ registration, the Department of Agriculture in Kiambu County has trained supervisors to oversee the county-wide digital registration of farmers, expected to start on September 1, 2023.
The three-day training that ended on Tuesday included supervisors from all the wards in the county, who were trained on how to operate the Kenya Integrated Agriculture Management Information System (KIAMIS), an innovative digital platform used to facilitate the registration of farmers.
Apart from registering farmers, the digital platform will also provide e-extension, credit management, and mechanisation services by the government and counties for effective service delivery and improved agricultural productivity.
The country-wide second phase of the farmers’ registration exercise is being scaled up to all regions after the government yielded a successful pilot farmers’ registration exercise early this year.
The exercise follows a presidential directive on the creation of a digitised national farmer registration system that will be key to ensuring the smooth distribution of subsidised fertiliser for farmers countrywide.
According to a report by the Ministry of Agriculture, the government registered a total of 4.3 million farmers in the first phase and aims to register 5 million more in the next phase.
During the launch of the second phase of the farmer registration exercise in Nairobi last month, Carla Mucavi, FAO Representative in Kenya, noted the significant contribution of information technology to agricultural production. She said KIAMIS will support effective and efficient service delivery and boost agricultural food production, which is currently negatively affected by climate change.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the programme is set to continue until the onset of the long rains in 2023 and until such a time when food prices in the country will be stable and fertiliser prices affordable.
This measure is predicated on the recognition of the county’s Vision 2030, which puts high agricultural productivity as one of the key drivers to achieving 100 per cent national food and nutrition security.
By Grace Naishoo
