The State Department for Agriculture and other allied departments have rolled out a blueprint to help boost food security in the country.
Agriculture Principal Secretary Dr. Paul Rono said the move will integrate all the plans and activities of eight State Departments who play a key role in food security and bring coordination, harmony and efficiency into the entire process.
Dr. Rono pointed out that this will help avoid duplication of functions by the Departments as far as food security is concerned, bring focus and make the responsibilities of each player clear.
During a two-day meeting held in Naivasha to discuss food security in the country and attended by five principal secretaries (PSs), six value chains were identified as key drivers of food security. They include; tea, coffee, sugarcane, cotton, and rice.
The production, marketing, and augmentation of rice production in order to reduce imports, was seen as a key area since Kenya currently imports about 80 percent of the rice consumed in the country.
Further, the new initiative included the production of edible oil. Dr. Rono noted that the country was importing nearly 95 percent of her edible oils.
Livestock was also added to the value chains as it was noted that there is a huge demand in the Middle East for Kenyan livestock and its products.
Principal Secretary for Irrigation Mr. Ephantus Kimotho noted that Kenya produces only 234 metric tonnes of rice and imports over 700 metric tonnes to meet the deficit.
Mr. Kimotho said the State Department plans to increase irrigation land to double rice production by 2027 and achieve self-sufficiency by 2032, despite a rice deficit.
Kimotho said plans are underway to increase irrigation acreage from 600,000 to one million in the country, adding they will collaborate with other departments to ensure certified rice production and high-yielding varieties.
Principle Secretary (PS) for Trade, Mr. Alfred K`Ombudo said his Department will be seeking to improve marketing of the produce for farmers so that they can get value for money and add a product will be sourced from an area of the country that it is in surplus and marketed in areas that have a demand for the product.
“We will also improve warehousing and storage facilities for farmers in order to stem the 40 percent post-harvest losses we incur each year,” Mr. K’Ombudo said.
K`Ombudo further noted that they were working on accessing export markets that bring in higher profit margins for the farmers and announced that the Government has just struck a deal with 27 European Union (EU) countries with an 18-trillion-dollar Gross Domestic Product (GDP), for the sale of Kenyan fresh produce.
Briefing the press during the meeting, Industry PS Mr. Juma Mukhwana, on his part said the construction of aggregation and industrial parks in 18 counties had already gone through the tendering stage and added each County will identify the kind of raw materials that can be produced in those counties and processed into finished products in their industrial parks.
Mr. Mukhwana said this will go a long way in increasing value addition and help reduce post-harvest losses, as a way of ensuring food security in the country.
By Mabel Keya –Shikuku
