Kisii County Executive Committee Member for Agriculture Elijah Obwori has commended the Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme Phase Two (ASDSP II) for enhancing the capacity of farmers in different value chains within the county.
Speaking during a visit by the programme’s National Secretariat Monitoring and Evaluation team, Mr. Obwori said that ASDSP II had supported farmers in banana, dairy and local chicken value chains with the aim of increasing their productivity, enhancing entrepreneurship skills and enabling them access markets.
Obwori noted that through the collaboration with the development partners, most farmers had realized increased profits from their produce.
The National Secretariat team led by Marren Amoko, also visited some of the beneficiaries and lauded the farmers for the efforts they put in to ensure the success of the programme.
The team also assessed resource utilization, procurement and assets in place and visited farmers undertaking banana aggregation and marketing at Koniga farm in Kitutu Chache North Constituency.
Richard Otara, a banana farmer and beneficiary of the programme, thanked ASDSP II for facilitating the training they received and providing access to the market.
“I have been able to sell my bananas at Sh18 per kilogram and make better profits unlike when I used to sell them in bunches. Last month, I sold 360 kilograms and earned more than Sh6000,” Otara said.
The banana farmer who operates under the Kisii County Banana Production and Marketing Society noted that the group sells their bananas to Boka Eats factory in Kisii town and other traders outside the county.
Currently, the Kisii County Banana Production and Marketing Society has a total of 70 groups engaging in banana farming and the groups are growing different varieties across the county.
The Agriculture Sector Development Support Programme Phase Two (ASDSP II) is a key programme designed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives and 47 county governments to address food and nutrition security and promote manufacturing through value addition.
It was financed by the Government of Kenya, Sida and the European Union for a period of five years (2017-2022) and primarily designed to enhance the capacity of different priority value chain actors at different levels to tackle the problems that hinder commercialization of agriculture.
By Mercy Osongo
