Nakuru governor Kinuthia Mbugua has called on county residents to embrace agriculture, saying that his government was committed towards offering an amicable working condition where available resources will be utilised to better the lives of the people of Nakuru.
Speaking after signing a memorandum of understanding with Nyandarua county government and Within Foundation (WF) that will see the construction of a dam and water storage facility in different sub counties of Nakuru, the governor urged Nakuru residents to make good use of the project in ensuring that agriculture sector thrives.
According to Mbugua, the MoU will see a success of the Nakuru Integrated Development Project (NIDP) that is geared towards achieving multiple initiatives being undertaken by his administration.
“This project aims at formulating an inter-county mechanism for coordinating the Gitiri Dam water complex further establishing modalities that will boost agriculture, day to day life and generally the well being of our people,” he said.
This, he said, was directed to farmers, water managers, horticultural farms, researchers, government agencies and domestic users with the end result expected to be a vibrant economy that will use the readily available water for booming agricultural production.
He further revealed that among other benefits, the project will create jobs for the youth in the society, lead to sprouting of hydro power projects, irrigation schemes among other benefits.
“This partnership should be embraced as a life changing opportunity because other than providing an available source of water, the residents from the two counties will have an access to professional guidance and mentorship programmes in different agricultural activities as we strategies on how to how best to provide enough food for our people,” Mbugua noted.
The project is said to be officially started in February 2016 with the Nakuru governor tasking the Agriculture Ministry to offer any necessary assistance to farmers on how best to utilise the project for double and better yields.