Search for best farmers kicks off in the counties

This year’s search for the best farmers in the country has kicked off, with entry forms being distributed at Ministry of Agriculture offices in every county.

The awards, which celebrate their fifth anniversary this year, are a partnership between agro-input company Elgon Kenya Ltd and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Elgon Kenya Head of Communications and Marketing Nelson Maina said the awards have grown to be an important event in the country’s farming calendar since the inaugural winners were honoured in 2013.

“The launch of this year’s awards comes at a time when more farmers and county governments are expressing interest to participate,” said Maina.

Farmers are expected to collect the forms, fill and return to the ministry offices. There are eight categories to participate in and they are:

Large-scale farm, large-scale agro-dealer, small-scale farm gearing towards commercialisation, small-scale farmer fully commercialised, small-scale agro-input dealer, youth in agriculture, women in agriculture and physically challenged.

Winners will be named in the last quarter of the year and will be rewarded by the President at the Nairobi International Trade Fair and a gala dinner with top government officials organised later.

Last year recorded the highest number of farmers who applied for the awards with over 50,000 applications received up from 30,000 in 2015 and 8,000 in 2013.

From the eight categories, some 23 winners were picked and feted in an interesting mix that captured how good practices in agriculture had permeated across the country.

Other sponsors include Nation Media’s Seeds of Gold, BASF, Bayer East Africa, Dupont, and Arysta Lifescience and Exel Crop Care Ltd.

-Correspondent