Posted on October, 16, 2019 at 09:49 am
By JOHN KAMAU Correspondent - The Star
Farmers in Kiambu county will receive free seeds and extension services from the county government during this planting season.
Deputy Governor James Nyoro said the county had budgeted Sh20 million for the exercise.
Nyoro spoke on Saturday at Waruhiu farm in Ngewa ward, Githunguri subcounty during a farmers’ field day.
He said apart from the free seeds, farmers will also receive crucial technical advice from experts to boost their yields.
“We will give our farmers quality seeds because we are committed to enhancing self-sustainability in terms of food security in Kiambu county as well as complementing the national government’s Big Four agenda,” Nyoro said.
Nyoro said to improve farm productivity, the county had rolled the Village-Based Advisors Programme, under which experts will be sent to all villages to educate farmers on better farming practices.
“The experts have already been deployed to some parts of the county including Gatundu North and Gatundu South subcounties. Our aim is to help farmers reap maximum yields from their farms. This will go a long way in ensuring that our farmers have enough food for consumption and for sale and therefore make earnings from their farming,” Nyoro said.
The deputy governor said the county government had already deployed 12 vehicles in all the 12 subcounties for the purpose.
Nyoro said Kiambu assembly did not allocate funds to agriculture and called on MCAs to pass a supplementary budget for the sector.
“We will allocate the sector Sh300 million to boost agriculture in Kiambu. It is the backbone of our county’s economy. In the near future we want to be allocating agriculture 10 percent of out county budget,” he said.
“We expect the percentage to rise to 12 once we combine with funding from our development partners.”
Nyoro said the county's development partners include Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa, World Bank through NARGI project, Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme, FAO, the Qatar government and the Danish International Development Agency (Danida).
Agriculture CEC Joseph Kamau said the county will allocate funds to Waruhiu farm which will be a training centre for farmers. The farm sits on 55 acres.
Kamau said a dairy farm, poultry and pigs units will be put up at the farm to facilitate training.
“We are also planning to rejuvenate the farm’s coffee section which occupies 15 acres by hiring farm managers and purchasing all crucial inputs so that we can use it to impart the necessary knowledge and skills of coffee farming to our farmers," the CEC said.
Source: The Star