NAIROBI Kenya April 10 – President William Ruto joined workers at his Sugoi farm at the weekend, when he drove a ploughing tractor in preparation for the planting season.
A video and photos of the president in action with the tractor has since gone viral on social media, in which he urged each and every individual to take action in helping curb food insecurity in the country.
“This Easter season, I decided to spend time here at home and also to supervise the planting in my farm,” he said later during a church service at AIC Fellowship in Eldoret.
Kenya is among the countries in the region that have faced an acute shortage of food since last year, blamed on the prolonged drought that hit the horn of Africa.
“We have a big debate in the country about the cost of living and how we need to reduce the cost of food, but it boils down to what we do as farmers. So, as a farmer also I came down here to look at what I can do to make a contribution to food production in our country so that we can reduce the cost of living,” he said.
Ruto said he aims to achieve double food production as a part of his administration’s measures to address the high cost of living in the country.
“I was informed by the Kenya Seed Company that they have sold an extra 200,000 kilos of seeds, which means we will have an extra roughly additional 200,000 acres of land under production this year,” he said.
In conclusion, the president said the solution to food shortage is not importing but “ making sure that we produce the food locally because indeed we have the capacity to.”
