President Ruto and the Kenya Kwanza government has prioritized the development of the agricultural sector for economic growth. The President seeks to use agriculture to create gainful employment to the Kenyan youth as well as return profitability of the sector the Kenyan farmers, especially the small scale farmers.
Hon. Moses’s Kuria earlier this week hosted the Agriculture Minister, Hon. Mithika Linturi, for the 12th day of the ongoing government roadshow where they reviewed the numerous successes the Ministry and the government has had in the sector.
In the past 16 months or so, the Ministry has issued over 5.9 million bags of subsidized fertilizer to about 999, 517 farmers countrywide. This led to a bountiful harvest in the last rainy season, with the country an increase from 44Million bags to about 60 Million bags.
President Ruto’s government also oversaw the increase in farmers’ registration from 1.3 million farmers to about 6.42 million.
Tea farmers in the country were big winners in the first year of H.E Ruto’s presidency, with their earnings growing by 17.6% from 50.18 per kg of green leaf to 59 shillings in the year 2023. Tea value export also recorded a significant growth, increasing from 8.7 Million bags to 20.3 Million bags in the past year.
This growth in the tea value can be directly attributed to the efforts President Ruto has made in the past year to strengthen the country’s bilateral and multilateral ties with the various nations across the globe.
Meat and Leather exports also experienced exponential growth, with meat value export rising from 14,985 metric tonne to 16,281MT in the year 2023.
Leather value export grew by a 31.2%, increasing from 1.6 Billion Shillings to 2.1 Billion.
Duty waiver and 14% VAT exemption on feed raw materials saw farmers cushioned from high prices of animal feed. The price of animal feed reduced by 14% from 5,500 shillings for a 90kg bag to 4,735 shillings in 2023.
The Ministry and the government has made commitments to increase the earnings for small scale farmers of tea, from the current 59 shillings to over 90 shillings in the next 4 years.
Through value chain development, President Ruto and the Ministry of Agriculture hopes to increase jobs in the leather sector from 17,000 jobs to over 100,000 employment opportunities.
In an effort to reduce losses for dairy farmers, the government has promised to install over 220 milk coolers across the country.