The Kenyan Government and African Development Bank have entered into an Sh 8.833 billion agreement to finance Small-Scale Irrigation and Value Addition Projects (SIVAP) across the country for the next six years.
Council of Governors chair Peter Munya yesterday while signing the Memorandum of Understanding with Agriculture Ministry on implementation modalities said the bulk of the money will be pumped into 11 counties.
“This is a landmark accord and with proper utilization of the funds by the targeted counties we envisage a bumper harvest that can greatly boost national food security,” said Munya.
“Besides hunger mitigation the project can alleviate poverty by enhancing agricultural productivity with more income among the targeted counties,” he added.
Munya disclosed the project’s goals will be achieved through a multi-faceted approach with development and rehabilitation of irrigation schemes, upgrading rural infrastructure, soil and water conservation and value addition of agricultural products among aspects taking precedence.
“I urge county governments to fully co-operate with relevant agencies involved in the implementation. Your commitment shall go along way achieving the success of this noble initiative,” said Munya.
He further thanked the African Development Bank describing the grant as “a welcome gesture that shall go along way aiding people under the shackles of poverty, drought and hunger.”
The project will commence June this year and run until the year 2022 with 10,400 households targeted in 11 counties.
Munya said Bomet, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Muranga, Machakos, Kitui, Makueni, Tana River and Kajiado counties shall be the beneficiaries of the project and were considered due to drought spells, unreliable rainfall patterns, land acreage under irrigation among others.
‘The roll out in these selected counties is vital due to a conglomeration of factors that made them likely for a case study. We hope chronic food security in these areas shall be a thing of the past,” opined Munya.
