Kirinyaga government plans to revitalise Kamweti Agricultural Training Centre to an institution of excellence for farmers and students to learn the best agricultural practices.
Kamweti ATC will be transformed into an institution recognised countrywide as a benchmarking centre for best farming practices where farmers will get quality seeds and best training on farming.
Speaking during the annual farmers’ field day, Agriculture executive John Gachara, who represented Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru, said the county would pump more money into the institution to expand its capacity. He also represents veterinary science and fisheries.
He said the field day was meant to bring together farmers from across the county to educate them on the latest and best farming practices.
“We bring together farmers so they can learn the newest farming technologies and practices from our researchers and experts. We want farmers to adopt them so that we can address food security, especially during drought,” Gachara said.
The field day has brought together farmers, researchers, experts, students and exhibitors from various value chains, cooperative societies and manufacturers of agricultural inputs.
Gachara said the first day of the exhibition was attended by approximately 600 farmers.
The show is themed, ‘To Improve Food Security through Value Addition’.
Farmers were educated on forms of diversification to ensure their land is fully utilised.
"We have been educated on the different ways to make use of our farms and not grow just one crop, to ensure that we always have food. We are grateful to the county for organising this forum and we hope they do it more often,” farmer Nancy Wanjiru, who attended.
Agriculture is the economic mainstay for Kirinyaga.
Through the Wezesha Programme, Governor Waiguru’s focus for the next five years is on sustainability and commercialising agriculture. The method is by leveraging on innovations and technologies for aggregation, agro-processing and export-oriented value addition through organised value chain based farmers groups to form cooperative societies.
The county supports farmers through initiatives such as training and establishing of value chains.
Governor Waiguru said the planned set up of the Sagana Industrial Park will be a game changer as it will attract investors and open up diverse opportunities especially for the youth and professionals of Kirinyaga.
Kirinyaga county has many opportunities that can be exploited by investors who want to venture into manufacturing and agro-processing.
(Edited by V. Graham)