State to help farmers access ready market for their produce

Principal Secretary State Department for Irrigation, Fred Segor. [Photo: Standard]

The state is set to embrace contract farming for a variety of cereals from next year as it seeks to boost farmers’ outputs and contribute towards the Presidents’ Big Four Agenda.

Principal Secretary State Department for Irrigation, Fred Segor while launching Kenya Breweries White Paper on Thursday, stated that contract farming will enable farmers to sell their produce at fair prices.

More than 45,000 farmers have been so far contracted by KBL to supply the beer manufacturer with 60,000 tons of sorghum yearly to meet its production demands.

Segor said, “We have started registering farmers and It is our expectation that we will be done within the next one year.’’

Segor hinted on the plans of providing farmers with ready markets for their produce when the move is adopted.

The PS added that the ministry was finalizing on plans of ensuring that there was enough food in the country through conducting various studies from stakeholders on type of seed varieties, soil fertility levels and type of fertilizers to use in various areas to ensure maximum yields.

The Treasury allocated Sh20.25 billion to enhance food security to all Kenyans by the end of the President Uhuru Kenyatta’s second term and Sh2.4 billion as a value addition to the manufacturing sector by 2022.