Deputy President Kithure Kindiki speaking at the empowerment event at Kwa Mutonga in Kitui west on Saturday/Musembi Nzengu.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki is joined by Ukambani leaders in a dance at the empowerment event at Kwa Mutonga in Kitui west on Saturday/Musembi Nzengu
The government will soon support farmers of pigeon peas, green gram and cowpeas just like it supports coffee and tea farmers.
The crops are dominant in the semi-arid Kitui, Machakos, Makueni and Tharaka Nithi counties.
Speaking in Kitui on Saturday, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki lamented that their production has dwindled due to lack of government support.
“I am planning to hold a meeting in Nairobi next month for farmers from this region so we can brainstorm with government officers, including the Agriculture CS,” he said.
The DP was addressing a fundraiser for women, youth and small traders at Kwa Mutonga Primary School in Kitui West constituency.
Since Independence, coffee and tea farmers have been getting policy, financial, material and marketing support from the government. At times, they enjoy loan waivers.
Kindiki announced that next month, he will host about 10,000 farmers from the pigeon peas, green gram and cowpeas-growing areas of eastern Kenya to explore government support for them.
“Pigeon peas are like gold. It is a pricey crop but farmers do not enjoy government support, and the return from pigeon is too low,” the DP said.
"Production has also plummeted because we have not given it due attention."
The Deputy President said supporting agriculture will not only increase production but also the incomes of farmers at the grassroots.
Meanwhile, the government is spending billions of shillings to develop Kitui county and Ukambani region as a whole to uplift local economies and improve the lives of residents, Kindiki said.
The region is key to the nation’s economic growth and will benefit from the Kenya Kwanza administration’s Bottom-Up Economic Development Agenda, he said.
“We will continue developing Kitui county because the residents deserve key projects and programmes like every part of this country,” the DP pledged.
He said the government has already set aside Sh2.1 billion for the last-mile electricity connection in Kitui county, of which Sh201 million will go to Kitui West for the rural electrification programme.
