President Uhuru Kenyatta during a past event. Photo/the-star.co.ke
President Uhuru Kenyatta today urged county governments to settle down quickly and embark on fulfilling their mandates to serve Kenyans.
The President called on the county administrations to start operating at full speed, and to especially give more attention to policies to boost production in the agricultural sector, which under the Constitution is a devolved County function.
He said the Jubilee Government has invested sufficient resources to boost agricultural production, both crop and livestock, as well as the fishing sector.
Speaking when he opened the Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) Central Kenya Regional Show at Kabiruiini Show Grounds, Nyeri, President Kenyatta said the National Government wants to see Counties play a bigger role in agriculture since most of the functions in the sector have been devolved to county governments.
“At this moment, I would like to call upon County Governments to commit more resources towards the revitalization of agriculture in their respective counties to feed the nation,” said the President.
He said the county governments should continue to revise and customize the National agricultural related laws and policies to suit the current technological advances and research.
The President called on counties to spearhead the establishment of cottage industries and value addition initiatives to raise the value of products.
“This should be attained by involvement of local private investors as well as international investors and development partners to venture and benefit from this unexploited potential,” said the President
The President said food security remains a priority in Kenya’s development agenda and the national government will continue leading the way in addressing the major challenges facing the agriculture sector.
“In this regard, my Government is keen in implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as envisaged in the Global Agenda for Sustainable Development and eradication of hunger by 2030,” said the President.
The President encouraged the Nyeri County Government to continue fulfilling its mandate by formulating and overseeing implementation of several policy and legal instruments such as: Tea Cess Act and Agriculture Development Fund Act, as well as Livestock bill, Coffee bill and Tea bill.
He called on the Nyeri County Assembly to settle down quickly and to fast track several agriculture Bills that are awaiting approval.
The President said the Jubilee Government has increased funding for agriculture and has put in place measures to address food availability in the country.