Kenya is a country with more than 28Million hectares of arable land, about 48% of the country’s total land. Which means the goal of producing enough food for the entire population, as well as top export agricultural products such as tea, coffee, wheat and many more, is a viable dream.

One of the main pillars of economic growth of any country is agriculture. According to President Ruto, Kenyans spend up to 52% of their income on food and sustenance. A percentage that can be lowered by ensuring that the country is providing enough food for its population. Currently, importing stable foods such as maize and sugar has had a negative impact on the prices of food in the country, a fact that leaves many Kenyans angry and frustrated.

In the Kenya Kwanza Manifesto, agricultural reforms for socioeconomic growth is one of the highest priorities. This is why H.E President Ruto immediately entrusted this challenge to his deputy H.E Gachagua with spearheading these reforms. The Deputy President immediately got to work by first and foremost digitizing of farmers record. A Previously hectic endeavor that had proven almost impossible, the DP in perfect collaboration with local leadership, completed this task in just under one month. Farmers information such as location and size of their land was all safely in digital form. More than 5 Million farmers were registered. This is a step towards bringing transparency into the distribution of subsidized fertilizers and inputs. By having this data, the Ministry of Agriculture can eliminate unscrupulous and dishonest brokers and cartels.

The next step was to provide subsidized fertilizers to farmers. In the last rainy season, more than 2Million farmers had received this fertilizers and inputs. The fertilizers are now retailing at 3,500/- shillings for a 50KG bag, a drop from the previous 6,500/- shillings. Thanks to this, the country is now expecting about 61Million bags of produce, a rise from the last harvests’ 44 Million bags. The correct use of affordable fertilizers will go a long way to closing the food supply and demand gap in this country.

The Ministry of Agriculture is dedicated to ensuring improvement of Kenyans farmers’ lives as well as the total population of the country. By empowering farmers through affordable fertilizers, sourcing for new markets for export products and improving infrastructure. The government has pledged to build more than 400 local markets across the country. These will provide the farmers more avenues to sell their wares. The Ministry of Roads’ current plans renovate and build more roads will improve accessibility for the farmer’s produce.