The government is putting up several initiatives towards actualization of the agenda on agricultural development, State Department of Agriculture Principal Secretary Dr. Paul Rono has said.
The government, he added, is looking at various existing lands in which they can engage with private investors to grow crops or rare livestock.
As part of the implementation of the Bottom-Up Transformation Agenda (BETA) on agriculture, the PS said what is required is arable land and the government currently has close to 1.7 million hectares of land.
Dr. Rono who was speaking on Wednesday on the sidelines of the launch of the Financing Agriculture Sustainably Conference, noted that part of the land is the Galana Kulalu Food Security project in the country that is currently growing rice, sunflower, and maize.
“We have around 1.6 million hectares of land we are using for livestock, but what we have done with Galana is to make it usable for our food production, especially rice, sunflower, and also maize”, he said.
The PS added that the government is working with the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) to develop the land and engage the private sector to come up and support the government.
Currently, he explained that the government has engaged five private sector companies who have shown interest in teaming up with the government so that they can utilize the land for food production.
“There are new investors but we are also encouraging the foreign investors to come and support the government on this,” he noted.
Dr. Rono noted that Galana Kulalu is not the only land, but that the government has large chunks of land across the country which very soon will be advertised for leasing.
At the same time, the PS confirmed that Avocado is also one of the horticultural crops that the government is promoting because of its foreign exchange returns.
“In terms of market, we have a good market both in Europe, the US, and China, and as a government, we want to promote the crop’s cultivation among other horticultural crops we are producing”, he said.
Dr. Rono acknowledged that the country has had issues and cases of people exporting crops that are not meeting the internationally set standard.
“We have had one case of avocado that was being exported being premature and this is very unfortunate the government has put up stringent measures to ensure that food produced in the country is not only healthy for the international market but also for the local market”, he reiterated.
Just last week, the Agriculture Food Authority intercepted lorries at the Namanga border by unscrupulous traders as they were exporting raw Avocado fruits to neighboring Tanzania.
The PS went on to warn those individuals who have been selling fruits or any other agricultural produce that have been rejected during export at the airport saying the government will catch up with them.
“I have seen individuals collecting the produce and selling them along the road corridors. They are doing illegal food hawking because if the foods are not fit for human consumption for the international market, it also means they are not healthy for the Kenyan market. We will be putting up measures to ensure that the food the people of this country are consuming, are healthy, free of pesticides and all other contamination so that we have a very healthy society”, he said.
Together with Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), the PS said they will be running a radical program to eradicate the trend, even supermarkets that might be found selling food that is not healthy and not up to standards.
On the current situation of Maize, the PS said this year the production is 44 million bags against the 48 million bags yearly thus a shortfall of 4 million bags.
“To achieve and reduce the cost of Ugali the government every month requires close to 4 million bags of maize. The government is using the strategic food reserve initiative to stabilize the market and ensure that the millers get the cereals on time and at the right quality and quantity”, he noted.
Dr. Rono explained that the government through a comprehensive way is targeting to buy a million bags of maize from farmers at the cost of Sh 4,000 per bag.
“As we talk now, we have close to 64,000 bags of maize in our NCPB stores and we are encouraging farmers to bring their maize surplus”, he said
He however noted that if the government does not get enough, it is likely to go the export way. we need to make sure that we have our strategic food to serve stores, store enough food for the dry season and also for the rainy season so that we ensure that the cost of Unga is maintained.
On financing, the PS said the government has a big program and is working with the Agricultural Finance Corporation to get enough resources to finance the farmers.
“We already have a program to give AFC Sh 10 billion to loan out to farmers. We are aware of the challenges when it comes to recovery of loans but we have notified all the defaulters to make sure that they pay back their loans so that we can take them back and be able to give other farmers who are requesting loans”, the PS said.
By Wangari Ndirangu
