• The BETA agriculture framework is anchored on achieving food security, reducing food imports and increasing exports.
• Agriculture PS this is only possible with support from development partners and the private sector.
Image: JOHN KAMAU
Image: HANDOUT
The government is seeking actionable areas on how to improve agricultural financing.
Agriculture PS David Rono said the sector can solve many of the problems facing the nation including a growing population, unempowered women and youth, a fragile food ecosystem and poverty.
However, this needs a structured conversation by all stakeholders on how to fund this ambition, he said.
“Agriculture investment and funding is a conversation that is overdue and needs to take place to better position the country to transform our agricultural sector and define how best to bring on board all relevant actors,” Rono said.
He said the discussions are expected to chart tangible investment and funding action plans that are alive to the current realities of the country.
The PS spoke during the launch of the Financing Agriculture Sustainably (FINAS) 2024 conference to be held on March 27-28 in Nairobi.
The conference will bring together actors in the agricultural sector to discuss financing through appropriate models.
The discussions will include designing financing solutions to ensure relevance to the wide range of beneficiaries and de-risking approaches for injecting capital such as blended financing.
The PS said the government will also be seeking to develop and agree on a framework that will attract the private sector to invest in agriculture to create jobs and increase farmers income.
Rono said the focus will be on creating sustainable systems that do not just put food on the table, but also increase exports, reduce imports and ensure food security.
This is in addition to transitioning smallholder farmers into profitable enterprises and propelling the nation to directly or indirectly improve livelihoods.
The PS said the government is in the process of developing a 10-year agriculture master plan to boost food production.
He said the 2024-34 master plan will help in implementing the Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy (ASTGS 2019-29).
The ASTGS envisions a vibrant private sector that contributes up to 80 per cent of the National Agricultural Investment Plan.
“All programmes and initiatives developed to implement the ASTGS are ending in June this year,” Rono said.
“The Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda agriculture priority results framework is anchored on achieving food security, reducing food imports and increasing exports."
He said they have translated this to agriculture pillars-food security, reduced imports and the growth exports-under which they have aligned specific priority value chains.
The food security pillar is aligned to value chains of maize, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, pulses, bananas, dairy, beef, indigenous poultry, mutton, chevon, fish and pork.
The reduce imports has rice, wheat, oilseeds, sugarcane, sorghum, honey and cotton.
The grow exports pillar comprises coffee, tea, fruits, nuts, vegetables, pyrethrum, bixa and miraa.
“Our achievements as government in the agriculture sector would not be possible without the catalytic support of our development partners and the private sector. We hope that this conference will help accelerate the increased participation of the private sector as many of the solutions lie with you,” the PS said.
Dr Charity Kawira, a researcher and expert on food safety, said the FINAS 2024 will focus on key areas including the government's priorities for agricultural progression, financing transformation and governmental incentives and frameworks.