The Garissa government is championing new efforts to transform the county from a ‘sleeping giant’ to the cradle of the country's green revolution.
Mohamed Sahal, the Director for Partnership and Donor Coordination, on Tuesday said the county is supporting new research on drought-resistant crop varieties and soil technologies to unlock its agriculture potential and become the breadbasket for the country.
“This will be realised by tapping in the enormous irrigation potential we possess and through better management of the rangelands for crop and livestock productivity,” Sabal said when he opened a regional stakeholders consultative forum for the National Agricultural Research System Policy at Garissa University.
His sentiments were echoed by Agriculture director Musyimi Kyalo, who said the county would transform itself from an importer to net exporter of major farm produce.
This, he said, would be achieved through development of production technologies for new crop and livestock varieties, innovative soil and crop management programmes and wide-scale dissemination of new technology.
Irrigation director Yussuf Noor and his Inter-Government and Public Participation counterpart Ismail Mohamed, among other county personnel attended the event.
The policy provides for the setting up of a County Agricultural Irrigation Forum to enhance coordination of agricultural research among institutions such as Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation, the Kenya Forestry Research Institute, the International Livestock Research Institute and Garissa University, which are undertaking research in the county.
