President William Ruto has announced the National Youths Service will engage in the construction of at least 100 dams and water pans annually.
While addressing the 89th NYS pass-out attendees in Gilgil, Ruto said the service should be facilitated by the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation to achieve the mandate.
"This will support the government's agenda and enhance NYS's financial self-reliance," he said.
Ruto further stated that the move will enrich education, training and skill development while utilising the construction plant, machinery and equipment available at the service.
"The government is taking full advantage of the tremendous potential to expand Kenya’s textile production by increasing the land area under cotton production," he added.
In October 2022, the President announced his administration will construct 100 dams in the country to boost water harvesting for agricultural purposes, President William Ruto has said.
This is part of his government's plans to shift the country from dependency on rain-fed agriculture to irrigation in order to enhance food production.
Kenya has experienced cyclic droughts leading to a major shortage of food and pasture.
“We will also construct more small capacity dams because we want to harvest water at every level so that we the citizens can have water for domestic use,” Ruto said.
According to National Treasury, 193 irrigation projects had stalled in Sh5.5 billion budget.
Some of the mega dam projects that had been stalled include Badassa dam (Marsabit) and Umaa Dam(Kitui) valued at Sh6.4 billion.
The president said Kenya uses approximately Sh200 billion for food imports but the situation can be reversed with irrigation-fed agriculture.
“Im going to work with the county governments so that we can have a program of harvesting water at every level and facilitating our farmers to use that water for food production so that we stop importing food and we promote the development of our economy,” he said.
