The Kisumu County government has dismissed the possibility of free inputs and services to farmers. County executive for agriculture, Dr Stephen Orot, said that the practice was not tenable and would be difficult to sustain in the long term. Orot said that the governments can only subsidise the services to a certain level. This, he said, includes footing transport costs and making the inputs cheaper than those offered by the private sector. He said that to give a full subsidy for all the services would hurt the private sector. “We know how important it is to have the private sector take part in providing these services to our farmers. If we say the service will be free, how will we help them (the private sector)?” Orot asked attendants of a conference that brought together farmers and researchers in Kisumu yesterday. He, however, explained that the counties can easily cushion farmers’ efforts when they are in groups. “When farmers are organised in groups, we are able to do more than if we try to help them individually,” he said. He said the county was training veterinary officers that will help dairy farmers in the villages. “We are training artificial insemination and other dairy officers who we are sending to the grassroots to be accountable to a certain group of farmers in the area,” he added. This, the executive explained, will help the farmers save on transport costs.

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