[Machakos county governor Dr. Alfred Mutua. He has revealed that his county is past depending relief food. Photo|Daily Nation]
Machakos county is now free from dependency on famine relief food following a comprehensive agriculture program enacted five years ago, governor Alfred Mutua has disclosed.
"For many years, some of our leaders have done nothing to reduce the shame of starvation and dependency of relief food in our region and instead concentrated in accumulation of personal wealth,” Mutua said.
He added that when he took over as Machakos governor, he decided to chart a new way, free off sycophancy and politics of poverty.
Speaking at the farmers training center in Machakos town during a vaccination exercise on Friday, Mutua said the county is no longer in the list of counties receiving relief food and was in fact selling surplus agricultural products.
Flanked by his deputy, Francis Maliti, the governor revealed that his government had ploughed 13,000 acres for farmers free of charge to further boost food production.
The county government has also supplied 579,000 seeds (green grams, cow peas, maize, beans)also for free over the years.
“My government has also availed 26,143 bags (50 kg each) of fertilizer at a subsidized rate to farmers which is procured and stored at the national cereals and produce board depots scattered around the county," Mutua said.
The county government has over the past five years procured and installed green houses for farmer groups which has boosted horticulture production in Machakos.
On poultry rearing, free chicks have been distributed to farmers for free after being reared by the county for two weeks to check mortality rate on distribution.
“The two million free chicken means almost all rural households have a source of income and food," the governor quipped.
On cash crop production, 30,000 coffee seedlings have been distributed freely to farmers in Machakos, Kathiano, Kangundo and Matungulu sub-counties.
On livestock production, the governor said, to date, over 1.3 million cattle have been vaccinated by the county government while over 432,200 slaughtered animals had been inspected to enhance the quality of beef production.
An expansive pasture improvement program was also established whereby 3,524 kilograms of grass seeds were distributed.
In dairy development, milk production will also increase tremendously from July when the county government starts providing free artificial insemination services.
"Subsequently, a milk processing plant will be established when we realize an enormous and consistent production of the same" Mutua said.