The government has committed Sh2 billion to support youth in agriculture, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said.
According to PSCU, Uhuru said the Sh2 billion Youth Fund would be used to train young people in new farming techniques.
“It will also be spent on new technology and management, so that through the entire agriculture value chain – from the farm to your plate – our youth have a chance to grow a business and to earn a living,” the President said.
The Head of State said the programme would benefit more than 750,000 young people within five years.
“And we are in talks with our development partners to raise Sh7 billion over the next five years for the same end,” President Kenyatta said.
The President spoke Wednesday at the Jamhuri Park Showground when he officially opened this year’s Agricultural Society of Kenya Nairobi International Trade Fair.
The President challenged the youth to embrace agriculture and assured them of his government’s commitment to empowering them.
He expressed concern that the average age of a Kenyan farmer today is 65 years, saying more of young people need to emulate their elders so that the skills and productivity gained over the years are not lost.
President Kenyatta also emphasized that his Government will ensure that Kenya gets its fair share of the new financing to support agriculture pledged by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) and African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF).
He said the funds would be managed equitably to transform the lives of farmers and herders countrywide.
In the last three months, Kenya hosted UNCTAD, TICAD, and AGRF – three high-level international conferences that focused on the Sustainable Development Goals and agricultural transformation.
The UNCTAD declarations gave a roadmap to support trade and investments for member countries; the TICAD conference pledged to pump $30 billion into African economies in the next three years while the AGRF Conference pledged to accelerate agricultural transformation by unlocking at least US $200 billion in investment in African agriculture.
During the occasion, Uhuru handed over title deeds for Agriculture Society of Kenya land in Kisii, Embu and Kisumu.
Other speakers included Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero, Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Cabinet secretary Willy Bett, and Agricultural Society of Kenya National chairperson, Annabella Kiriinya.