Council of Governors’ chairperson Anne Waiguru has said counties have made tremendous progress in enhancing food security in the country.
She said they have adopted modern technologies in the agriculture sector.
This, she said, is in a bid to boost production on value addition for their produce to fetch more money and to avoid food loss and waste.
Speaking on the sidelines of the UN’s 67th session of the Commission on Status of Women (CSW) in New York, the county boss noted that through agricultural extension officers, counties continue to train farmers on best farming practices.
"The counties’ approach in developing the sector has now been focused on using technological innovations to address critical constraints faced by farmers over the last 10 years in devolution," she said.
The Kirinyaga governor noted that counties managed to reach out to 4,523,889 farmers with extension services within the year while pointing out the low use of extension services as one of the challenges facing the sector.
In the 2021-22 financial year, the COG chairperson said that counties allocated Sh35.5 billion of their budgets to the agriculture sector development and in the wake of climate change and high demand for fruits in the global market, the units distributed 643,686 of assorted fruit trees seedlings.
Waiguru added that counties are exploring the use of digital extension services to overcome some of these gender-related challenges.
"The devolved units are helping women farmers to integrate innovative technologies in crop and livestock farming to boost food production and income," the county boss said.
She observed that the sector accounts for 70 per cent of employment in rural areas, where women provide nearly 70 per cent of the labour force in the production, processing and marketing of produce.
“Whereas counties continue to expand outreach to farmers, rural women face barriers and constraints, including limited education and low household incomes,” Waiguru said.
Towards accelerating food security, she noted, counties have invested in agricultural machinery with an additional purchase of 350 tractors operating in 29 agriculture mechanisation stations.
“The county governments have also introduced commercial poultry farming by supporting farmers with 1,608,108improved organic chicks and distributed close to 3 million fingerings to support farmers to grow fish,” she added.
“In appreciation of the importance of potatoes as a source of food, income, and employment, Counties distributed 45 metric tonnes of potato vines. This is expected to go a long way in improving farmers’ incomes and increasing foreign exchange."
