Ministry to rely on private sector, says Koskei
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Kosgey (right) is sworn in at State House, Nairobi May 15, 2013. He said government will rely on the private sector and development partners to assist it implement some of the ambitious programmes that require huge capital outlay May 23, 2013. FILE
What you need to know:
Government to roll out the infrastructure required to put one million acres of land under irrigation and build abattoirs in each County.
The government will work with the private sector and development partners in implementation of ambitious programmes that require huge capital outlay.
Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture Felix Koskei said the government would roll out the infrastructure required to put one million acres of land under irrigation and build abattoirs in each County as contained in Jubilee's manifesto, grand plans that would require billions of shillings.
“Right now, we are not worried about funding because what we require to do is put up the infrastructure and the private sector would come in and do the actual farming. Development partners are already helping with construction of abattoirs, so funding is not a problem,” he said Thursday.
Jubilee has promised to expand agriculture by moving the country away from dependence on rain fed agriculture to irrigation, promising to put one million acres under irrigation within its first year in office.
Apart from attracting the private sector, the government would also source for donor funding to ensure that some of its lofty plans took off.
Mr Koskei was speaking at the Ministry of Agriculture headquarters where he received a Sh35 million cheque from Brookside Dairy for sponsoring a cattle breeders’ show to be held in June.
