Posted on June, 13, 2019 at 08:58 am
By Fredrick Obura - Standard Digital
NAIROBI, KENYA: The government has allocated Sh59.1 billion to the agriculture, rural and urban development sector in 2019/2020 budget.
In a budget statement to be read by CS Henry Rotich on Thursday, the government projects the allocation to higher when President Uhuru Kenyatta leaves office in 2022.
The sector will be allocated Sh58.9 billion and Sh61.1 billion in the Financial Years 2020/21 and 2021/22, respectively.
The Sector plays a key role in the development agenda of the country through enhancing food and nutrition security; employment and wealth creation.
It has also prioritized the implementation of “The Big Four” Plan initiatives.
The Big Four Agenda items are Food security, manufacturing (mainly focusing on job creation in this area), affordable universal health care and affordable housing.
In 2017, it is estimated that the Sector contributed 29.7 percent of the GDP valued about at about Ksh 2.342 trillion through linkages with manufacturing, distribution and other service-related sectors.
Key achievements in the Sector during the 2015/16 –2017/18 Medium-Term period were the provision of 486,426 metric tonnes of subsidised fertiliser that benefitted 1.9 million farmers and building up of reserves by 5.1 million metric tonnes of grains and 1,289 metric tonnes of powdered milk.
Other achievements during the same period also included development and enactment of the Fisheries Management and Development Act 2016; reflagging of five deep sea fishing vessels including the Offshore Patrol Vessel (PV Doria) for surveillance of deep sea fishing and construction of fish quality control laboratories in Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa.
Key outcomes expected in period 2019/20-2021/22 include improved land management for sustainable development, enhanced livestock resource management, and development and increase agricultural productivity and outputs.
Other key expectations include increased food security and income, conducive environment for sustainable development of the blue economy, increased per capita water storage capacity for irrigation and improved agricultural research for socio-economic development and industrialisation.
Source: Standard Digital