NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 14- The government is set to review its food security measures and challenges the agricultural sector is currently facing, during Monday’s State House Agriculture Summit.
The summit, which is set to be attended by various stakeholders in the sector and senior government officials will also address ways of using technology in farming and involvement of the youth, considering the average age in the sector is 63 years.
State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu on Sunday said that the government will also highlight some of the key achievements in the agricultural sector for the last three years under the Jubilee Administration.
“There has been a lot of work done in areas such as mechanisation, agricultural produce value addition and expanding our fertiliser subsidy programme which is now reaching 1.5 million farmers in contrast to the 430,000 farmers it was reaching three years ago,” he said.
On the subsidised cost of fertiliser, he said the prices have come down from Sh2,500 per bag to Sh1,800 per bag.
“At the summit, we look forward to discussing not just the measures our government has taken towards achieving food security, but also the challenges that still face the agricultural sector, the work that remains to be done and how best stakeholders can collaborate towards a dynamic and thriving agricultural sector,” he assured.
Other matters that will be discussed according to Esipisu include mechanisation of agriculture, “a vision of the Jubilee Government, and the connection of this mechanization and technology to increasing interest of the youth in farming.”
This comes after a set of two other summits held to address key economic sectors including energy and infrastructure, in a bid to review the government achievements ahead of 2017 General Election.
