Lack of knowledge on agribusiness and unsound farm management hurt the potential of agriculture in rural areas, Education CS Fred Matiang’i has said.
“It is unfortunate that most small- and medium-scale farmers do not acknowledge agriculture as their core business,” he said.
Matiang’i made the remarks at the agribusiness investors’ conference at Strathmore University yesterday. He said small-scale farmers do not have plans that guarantee consumers a reliable supply of food crops.
The CS said failure to deploy science and technology in agriculture where accurate data inform investment decisions has undermined the agribusiness potential.
Matiang’i said large-scale farmers are commercial producers whose focus is on local manufacturing and exportation. To date, most of the large-scale farms and plantations are owned or managed by expatriates, Kenyans of foreign descent or transnational companies, he said. The CS said a lot of rural lands owned by the urban elite, who constitute 30 per cent of the population, remain underutilised.
