County acquires 21 motorcycles to boost extension services

Governor James Orengo and Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha) officials during the launch of mobile axle load weighing instruments on Tuesday. The instruments are aimed to curb damages on roads as a result of overloading by trucks.[Courtesy]

Siaya county government has procured 21 motorcycles to boost field extension services.

Speaking during the handing over ceremony at Nyalgunga in North Alego ward, Governor James Orengo said the motorcycles will ease the movement of the extension workers during field visits to farmers.

"The motorcycles will go a long way in ensuring that farmers get extension services and boost agricultural production in the county," said Orengo.

The governor regretted that the extension officers have been experiencing difficulties reaching out to farmers.

The governor, who was accompanied by the County Executive in charge of Agriculture Sylvester K'Okoth, asked the officers to ensure that they use the motorcycles for the intended purpose of serving the farmers.

Orengo also unveiled 44 out of the 210 Agripreneurs that the Department will recruit to support the value chain development of agricultural enterprises including seed bulking, production, aggregation, value addition and marketing.

Six Community Driven Development Committees (CDDCs) that signed MoUs with the Department of Agriculture for implementation of ward-based community action plans under the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project were also unveiled during the event.

In a bid to ensure delivery of last-mile agricultural services, Orengo also commissioned Nyalgunga cereals store constructed at a cost of Sh6.6 million by the county government.

"The store will not only offer last mile agricultural inputs distribution services but also host our ward agricultural office for North Alego ward, serve as an aggregation center for farm produce to reduce post-harvest losses, and also serve as a store that can be certified for Warehouse Receipt System services by farmers," said K'Okoth.

The Agriculture CEC said governor Orengo's administration is committed to transform agriculture by delivering food and nutrition security to the people and ensuring farmers shift from subsistence to commercial farming.