Crops Development Principal Secretary Kello Harsama has assured farmers and other stakeholders that the government is committed to digitizing farmers’ records.
Speaking during the opening of a Training of Trainers workshop for digitization of farmers’ records at the Kenya School of Government, Nairobi Wednesday, Harsama stated that the process was critical as it will enable the government to monitor and evaluate the impact of government projects and programmes that are being undertaken.
The PS noted that the process will provide guidance towards distribution of fertilizers and other subsidies, hence increasing reliability and productivity in the agricultural sector.
“I appreciate the government decision to bring on board various government departments and county governments in ensuring mass farmers registration, the exercise is important and it will facilitate access to affordable fertilizer across the country,” he said.
Harsama said the State Department for Crops Development is committed to offering the much needed technical support to ensure the process was successful.
“We are committed to working with other stakeholders in ensuring a reliable digitized farmers’ register to support implementation of governmental subsidy programmes,” he added.
The main aim of the exercise is to establish a credible national database for all farmers, which will capture their key details including farmer profile, location, crop acreage and fertilizer requirements.
The information from the farmers will then assist the government to provide necessary interventions to improve productivity, increase profitability as well as reduce risks.
This process also aims at supporting the sector to achieve its primary objectives of increasing small-scale farming in different parts of the country.
The training which involves training of more than 200 National Government Administration Officers from all the 47 counties was officially launched by the Agriculture and Livestock Development CS Mithika Linturi.
The administrators will be expected to train grassroots administrators who will then carry out the anticipated registration exercise.
By Ian Chepkuto
