Trans Nzoia County will benefit from a Sh1.1 billion programme dubbed the Green Employment Agriculture programme (GEAP).
The programme, which is funded by the Danish government through DANIDA will be implemented by the Micro Enterprise Support Program Trust (MESPT).
Trans Nzoia County is among 12 other Counties from five Regional Economic Blocs that will benefit from the initiative.
Speaking in a Kitale hotel on Friday during the launch of a one-day sensitization workshop, CEC Agriculture, Mary Nzomo said the programme will support her department in promoting four Agricultural Value Chains that the county is implementing.
The county’s Agriculture Value Chains include indigenous chicken rearing, dairy farming, maize and banana/avocados crop husbandry.
According to Nzomo, the programme will help facilitate increased commercialization, employment, and green transformation among farmers in the region.
The CEC added that the programme will also enhance the diversification programme that the County government has been championing.
She said that diversification will encourage farmers in the region to drift away from overreliance on maize that has caused agony to farmers especially when prices plummet.
The programme, according to the CEC, will enable farmers to benefit through market access and micro small enterprises development; improve access to financial support, food safety and increased productivity besides green transformation.
She said that her department will help to develop and implement the four value chains from input supply, processing, and marketing.
This, according to Nzomo will ensure that the value-chain process is streamlined and will bring together all the aggregators that will develop strong bargaining organizations.
The agriculture executive also said that the programme targets 40 per cent inclusion of women and 30 per cent of youth which will further promote gender equality.
The Green Employment Agriculture Program Coordinator Jerad Ochieng said that the programme will help create more than 3,000 job opportunities among the value chain actors.
“We will also link more than 40,000 farmers to reliable markets, and have an additional six billion shillings sales turnover of value chain produce aggregated by the targeted SMEs in the county,” Ochieng said.
He further said that farmers will also access financial services and climate smart technology that will be key to their farming practices.
Of the five Sub Counties in Trans Nzoia, Cherangani and Kiminini will venture into avocado while Kwanza will pursue indigenous chicken.
By Pauline Ikanda
