SPEECH BY MR.

ADAN MOHAMED, CABINET SECRETARY FOR

AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK

AND FISHERIES DURING THE

OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE 2015 AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF

KENYA NAKURU NATIONAL SHOW, ON FRIDAY 3RD JULY, 2015
AT NAKURU SHOW GROUND.

Cabinet Secretaries,
Principal Secretaries,
Senators,

Hon. Members of the National Assembly,

Your Excellencies Governors,
National Chairman, Agricultural Society of Kenya,
Chairman, Agricultural Society of Kenya, Nakuru Branch,
Members of the County Assemblies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to be with you on the third day of the Agricultural Society
of Kenya, Nakuru National Show. Let me take this opportunity to
welcome all the farmers, stakeholders and business people who have
come to participate in this show and also to register my appreciation to
the Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) and Exhibitors, whose hard work
and commitment has made this show a success.
I encourage you to take advantage of this show to gather important
information to improve productivity in your various agricultural
enterprises and businesses.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Agricultural shows play a key role in the promotion and growth of
agribusiness in Kenya. The exhibitions are a showcase of the modern
technologies, information, skills and experiences that are useful to our
farming communities and business enterprises in this region and
beyond.
ASK has retained the Show theme of Enhancing Technology in
Agriculture and Industry for Food Security and National
Growth. The continued emphasis on the theme shows the importance
of technology as a key driver in enhancing agricultural growth and
development in our country. In Kenya, agricultural development is key
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to industrial development as most of the industries are agro-based.

Therefore any technology that promotes agricultural and industrial
development promotes national growth and enhances the achievement
of Kenya Vision 2030 which aims at transforming Kenya into a
newly-industrializing, middle-income country must be
embraced. The Government is therefore, keen in playing its role by
promoting competitive and commercial oriented agriculture through
utilization of modern and efficient agricultural technologies.
I wish therefore, to call upon farmers and all other stakeholders to
transform subsistence agricultural production to farming as a business
so as to develop a vibrant agro-based industry and trade in the country.
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Ladies and Gentlemen,

Food security remains a priority objective for our nation. Towards
boosting the growth in agriculture sector the National Government is
keen to see this trend sustained to address the challenges facing the
sector and especially ensuring food security. In the current Financial
Year, it is appreciated that the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and
Fisheries is allocated 34.4 billion Kenya shillings towards boosting food
production, that will result in reduction in cost of living particularly by
reducing food prices and boosting overall rural development. The funds
are directed to key flagship projects including irrigation, input subsidy,
strategic grain reserve, fisheries and livestock development.
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Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Government has deliberately placed irrigation as a priority national
agenda. Through the Expanded National Irrigation Programme (ENIP)
the Government has rehabilitated and expanded national irrigation
schemes by an additional 22,330 acres in the various counties during
last financial year. This encompasses smallholder irrigation schemes,
medium community schemes and public schemes.
To implement these projects the Government during this financial year
has allocated Kshs 16 billion for the development of irrigation and
drainage infrastructure.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and
Fisheries is spearheading the implementation of the Vision 2030 flag
ship project on the three-tier Fertilizer Cost Reduction Strategy. To
achieve this, the Government in the last financial year procured and
distributed 206,000 MT of assorted fertilizers worth 4 billion Kenya
shillings. During the current Financial Year, the Government has
allocated a total of 2.5 billion Kenya shillings to purchase fertilizer.
For farmers to have timely and reliable supply of the commodity, the
Government is putting in place a long term sustainable strategy for
establishing a fertilizer manufacturing plant in the country.
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Ladies and Gentlemen

Food security and economic well being of the farmers, remains a
priority objective for our nation. Despite several food security initiatives
that have been undertaken by the National and County Governments
with support of development partners, Kenya has not yet attained food
self sufficiency. In the year 2014, Maize production was 39.04 million
bags compared to annual consumption of 45 million bags. Wheat
production was 3.65 million bags compared to the national wheat
requirement of 12 million bags. The rice production was 1.4 million
bags compared to an annual consumption of 6.5 million bags, the

deficit is met through imports. However, the Government is putting

strategic measures sustainably fill the identified gaps in production.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Presently the level of agricultural mechanization in Kenya is at 30% that
is 3 tractors per 1,000 hectares. To expand the area under cultivation by
1.2 million ha as envisaged in the Agriculture Sector Development
Strategy (ASDS) and Kenya Vision 2030 strategy, the country will require
an additional 12,500 tractor units to facilitate the required farm
operations.
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The Government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and

Fisheries intends to strengthen on-farm agricultural mechanization to
enhance agricultural production to achieve development goals as
envisioned in vision 2030. Towards this goal, the Government is
consulting the Governments of Brazil and India to achieve this goal.
I also urge the County Governments to put measures in place to
facilitate the operations of the Agricultural Mechanization Services
stations that offer subsidized services to small scale farmers in order to
ensure food production is not comprised.

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Ladies and Gentlemen,

The livestock sub-sector continues to play a significant role in the
economy of this country as it provides employment, food, foreign
exchange and raw materials for the agro-based industries. The subsector is also the primary source of livelihood in most parts of the
country especially the arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) of this country. It
is for this reason that the government is wholly committed to supporting
the players in the subsector by providing the necessary enabling policy
environment and service provision infrastructure with the major aim of
stimulating growth.

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The Government has continually been revising and updating the

livestock related laws and policies due to the realization that the present
agriculture related laws were enacted many years ago and have since
been overtaken by technological advances and research. In this regard
the Government will continue to fulfill its mandate by formulating and
overseeing implementation of several policy and legal instruments such
as the National Livestock Development Policy and the Dairy Master plan
which are meant to guide the stakeholders in the livestock industry.

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Ladies and gentlemen

Despite the gains realized in the livestock sub-sector, a number of
challenges have continuously hampered the progress of the livestock
industry. Some of these challenges include recurrent droughts, frequent
outbreak of livestock diseases, and unreliable market for livestock and
livestock products, unavailability and high cost of breeding material,
poor infrastructure, high cost or poor quality inputs and limited
affordable credit among others.
The Government is putting a lot of effort in marketing of livestock and
livestock products. We have been responding to enquiries from various
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potential markets interested in our livestock and livestock products.

However, the farmers should enhance the level of production of both
livestock and livestock products for such markets to be sustained, to
keep up with the emerging demand.

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Ladies and Gentlemen

Fish farming is a key sub-sector in this country where fishing is done
either in lakes or undertaken in both private and community owned
dams. Annual fish production is estimated at 200,000 metric tonnes with
the sector currently contributing just over 0.5% to the countrys Gross
Domestic Product. While fish production from aquaculture has been on
the

rise,

capture

fisheries

has

been

on

the

decline

due

to

overexploitation of the main sources of wild fish. Aquaculture remains

one of the fastest growing food producing sectors and is set to play a
key role in meeting the rising demand for fishery products. The
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Government is determined to catch up in fish farming in order to

increase its per capita consumption currently standing at 3.5kg per
person per year.

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Ladies and Gentlemen

Towards boosting investment in agricultural sector, the Agricultural
Finance Corporation in the Financial Year 2013/2014 disbursed 3.1
billion Kenya shillings. However, there are challenges in accessing
agricultural credit, some of which include; lack of acceptable collateral
such as land-title deeds and unpredictable weather which sometimes
results in poor crop yields, tough conditions or requirements by the
financial institutions and high interest rates. I acknowledge that various
financial institutions offer credit services to farmers in the country and
would continue urging the institutions to develop products that are
farmer-friendly.
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Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I wish to thank the Agricultural Society of Kenya, all exhibitors and those
who contributed towards making this Show a success.
With these remarks, may I welcome you all to the Nakuru National Show
and encourage you to learn and gain from the technologies exhibited on
enhancing food security and national growth.
THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

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