The government has promised to end the traditional annual cases of food importation due to the shortage of enough food in the country.
Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi has assured Kenyans of enough food in the country this year because of multi-agricultural development projects being funded by the World Bank for Sh100 billion.
Linturi said the five key World Bank-funded projects being implemented in 46 Counties include the National Agriculture Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP), covering 33 counties, the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project (KCSAP) covering 24 counties and National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth Project (NARIGP) in 21 counties.
Others are Emergency Locust Response Program, Kenya (ERP) in 15 Counties, and the Food System Resilience Project (FSRP) that commenced in January 2024.
Linturi added that Kenya produced 61 million bags of maize in 2023, compared to 31 million bags that were being produced for the last four years.
He attributed this to reduced costs of farm inputs and the ongoing registration of farmers which has already captured nearly 6 million farmers countrywide.
The CS was speaking at a Mombasa hotel during a joint Annual National- County World Bank Agriculture Portfolio Performance Review Consultative Workshop that brought together the World Bank representatives and national and County officials.
“I appreciate the World Bank's collaboration with the National and County Governments in making the agricultural sector more productive and resilient, contributing to the reduction of poverty, increasing incomes and improving food security while mitigating the effects of climate change,” said Linturi.
He attributed the improved food production in the country to the subsidies being offered by the government like the subsidized fertilizer programme that was initiated by the Kenya Kwanza government and the registration of farmers across the country.
“The World Bank's community-centred approach to funding projects prioritizes sustainability by empowering beneficiaries. The projects directly impact 15 million farmers and we are collaborating closely with County Governments to support key value chains in the agricultural sector,” he stated.
The CS also promised that the Kenya Kwanza Government’s Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) places agriculture at the centre to realize one hundred per cent food and nutrition security for all Kenyans.
“Through the Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy (ASTGS) 2019-2029, my Ministry aims to contribute to the national development agenda by increasing; incomes of small-scale farmers and pastoralists; agricultural output and value-added products; household food resilience and embracing data and digitization agenda,” Linturi added.
The forum was also attended by the Chairperson, Council of Governors Committee on Agriculture and Bungoma Governor, Kenneth Lusaka and his deputy Kahiga Mutahi of Nyeri County, Principal Secretary Crops Development Dr Paul Ronoh, World Bank Country Team Representatives, County Chief Executives among others.
Lusaka and Kahiga hailed the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development for working closely with counties to develop agriculture in the country.
“I commend the Ministry of Agriculture for their significant progress in integrating devolved functions. Their joint initiatives in the last mile fertilizer distribution and farmer registration exercise have led to bountiful harvests across the country,” Lusaka added.
On his part, Kahiga has challenged County Governments to increase their annual budgets for agriculture development to boost efforts to increase food production.
“If you look at our budgets for agriculture both in the national and counties, most of the funds are sourced from donors and this is not good for our growth,” Kahiga said.
The theme of the annual forum is "Nurturing Sustainable Agricultural Growth for Food Security and Wealth Creation". The forum will close on Thursday.