Posted on December, 1, 2023 at 09:59 am
Kenya farmers will benefit from a five-year $50 million (Sh7.6 billion) United States Agency for International Development (USAid) project to support local food production.
Under a project dubbed the Local Food Systems (LFS), USAid plans to support schemes with a view to increasing food production in the country by 2027 to feed the increasing population. The project to be undertaken in 17 counties will involve farmers, grower organisations, markets, transporters, counties and the national government among other value chain stakeholders.
Robert Mwadime, USAid outgoing chief of party, said the agency seeks to supplement government and other value chain players’ efforts to boost local food production. He supervised the implementation of a six-year project -Kenya Crops and Dairy Marketing Systems (KCDMS) that had a strong focus on dairy and horticulture value chains and thus touching the lives of over 300,000 farers under three pillars –competitiveness, inclusivity and resilience.
“We are hopeful that the new project will kick off in the first quarter of 2024 and seeks to strengthen food production systems by involving all the value chain players from farm to the markets,” said Mwadime during a close out ceremony of the KCDMS project at a Kiambu hotel.
The LFS project, he said is at the proposal submission and reviewing stage before the successful bidders or administering agents are announced.
Agriculture Principal Secretary Paul Rono hailed the KCDMS project for its pivotal role in transforming the lives of the farmers and shaping the future of the agriculture sector.
Source: PD