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Madaraka Day: Ruto takes major steps to boost agriculture, ensure food security

President William Ruto inspects a guard of honour at the start of the 61st Madaraka Day celebration at the Masinde Muliro Stadium in Bungoma County on June 1, 2024. (Photo: PCS)

By Barack Oduor | Saturday, June 1, 2024

The government has written off Sh110 billion worth of sugar factory debts accumulated over 40 years.

President William Ruto has promised to improve agricultural productivity, with a focus on cane, millet, sorghum, cotton, and coffee, in a country where this sector accounts for the largest share of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Ruto announced this on Saturday, during the 61st Madaraka Day celebration at the Masinde Muliro Stadium in Bungoma County, noting the need for food security and Kenya's ability to compete locally and internationally.

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"Our agriculture sector continues to fire the powerful engine of economic transformation to propel this great nation into a food secure, internationally competitive trading giant that can hold its own in the East African Community and leverage other trading frameworks such as COMESA, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AcFTA)," he said.

Ruto also announced that the government had written off Sh110 billion worth of sugar factory debts accumulated over 40 years, as well as a new leasing model that will guarantee prompt payments and yearly bonuses to cane farmers, and timely wages for factory workers, as is the case with growers of other crops.

"As part of my commitment to invest Sh2 billion into sugarcane development through state-owned mills, after leasing is completed, I am proud to announce that the government has approved the first tranche of Sh600 million for seed cane development, and the National Treasury shall shortly release these funds," the president said.

To enhance the country's capacity to coordinate agricultural production and deliver services to the sector more efficiently, he announced the development and integration of a farmers' and agripreneurs database into the Kenya Integrated Agriculture Information System.

"The database already has 6.4 million registered farmers, and we aim to serve them better by improving access, sharing, and utilisation of information in the agricultural sector," said Ruto, who described the resource as powerful.

In recent months, farmers have more easily and affordably accessed subsidised fertiliser from the Fertiliser Subsidy Programme, as well as animal feed and certified seeds.

Ruto reiterated the government's commitment to increasing cotton production from 2,500 bales in 2022 to 107,000 bales by 2025 and modernising ginneries.

He said the goal in the past was to expand cotton farming from 9,300 acres in 2022 to 41,000 acres in 2023 and distribute 15,700 kg of seeds to farmers in Busia and another 20,000 kg to farmers in Meru, Makueni, Kitui, and Machakos.