Africa-Press – Kenya. Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has said the country cannot continued its over-reliance on rain for agricultural production.
The DP said it’s high time the country deviced other effective ways of food production that cannot be affected by weather patterns like irrigation as envisioned in their manifesto.
“We must no longer rely on rain-fed agriculture amid a stretch of climate change and other calamities like locust invasions. We have a clear strategy drawn from our manifesto on revolutionising and modernising agriculture,” he said.
The DP was speaking on Friday at Movenpick Hotel in Westlands, Nairobi during the Humanitarian Initiative 2022 which is aimed at helping Kenyans who are affected by drought.
He said the irrigation of cultivatable land is the way to go to surmount the rising food crisis in the country.
Gachagua said the strategy will be the new Agriculture Cabinet secretary Mithika Linturi’s first assignment in office.
He said the Kenya Kwanza administration has set a lot of potential in smart agriculture where the sector will be empowered to produce more billionaires.
“There is no reason the manufactures cannot invest in the sector, indeed the next Kenyan billionaires will be from the agricultural sector,” he said.
“In addition, we are keen to enhance value addition for agricultural produce in line with commitment of tapping into manufacturing to wean the country or reduce the minimum importation for consumption.”
Gachagua said the move will reduce dependence on foreign markets which are subject to manipulation.
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