Kenya launches one of largest projects to boost food security
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E-mail Xinhua, January 10, 2014
Kenya on Thursday launched one of the largest irrigation project aimed at boosting food security in the East African country.
The Galana-Kulalu Food Project located in the Coast region will have substantial area under irrigation as a strategy and entry point for integrated farming for crop, livestock and fish production for local consumption and export.
Firms are expected to build access roads to their allotted land, as well as water delivery systems that will be fed by the government-constructed storage reservoir.
Speaking during the launch of the project in Malindi, President Uhuru Kenyatta said the project will not only ensure national food security but also create wealth and employment opportunities.
"With this program, we aim to produce enough food crops, livestock and fish to feed our people while generating revenue and employment. We are here to address challenges of food security with associated high cost of living, rising food driven inflation, poverty and growing social and political instability," he said.
"It is part of our plan to irrigate one million acres of land in the next five years," Kenyatta said when he kicked off the Jubilee Coalition's landmark irrigation project by commissioning a 10,000 acre Galana-Kulalu model farm.
The government had allocated 42 million U.S. dollars to the first phase of the project in the 2013/14 financial year with the bulk of investments coming from the private sector.
The project has been expanded and accelerated in order to meet campaign promises made by the jubilee government to bring one million acres of land under irrigation.
Initially, under the Vision 2030 development blueprint, Kenya was to put 80,000 acres of land under irrigation each year. This plan would have seen Kenya hit the one million acre threshold in 12.5 years.
"We will also ensure increased efficiency in agricultural production by use of mechanization and modern technologies in farming while enhancing the use of right farm inputs for increased production of maize, sugar cane and horticultural crops among other enterprises," Kenyatta said.
The National Irrigation Board said once completed the project would see 500,000 acres of land put to maize production, 200,000 acres to sugar cane, 150,000 acres to beef and game animals, 50, 000 acres to horticulture, 50,000 acres to dairy animals while a further 50,000 acres will be dedicated to growing fruits such as mangoes and guavas.
The East African nation has an annual sugar deficit of 340,000 tonnes which is imported from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa states.
The country's millers attribute the shortage to decreasing cane supply in the face of competition for the commodity by crushers.
Kenyatta said the model farm will reveal the potential investment opportunities that exist in the region. He also launched Consultancy Services whose output will deliver investment opportunities in the flagship project.
The president said the irrigation project will ensure food security for all Kenyans and encouraged public-private partnerships in its implementation.
"For us to meaningfully develop, we must implement programs that will ensure food security for all our people in line with our Constitution," the President said.
He said when people have sufficient food and are busy producing it, there will be no idleness and security and social problems will be reduced.
He said the project will address challenges of food security with associated high cost of living, rising food driven inflation, poverty and growing social and political instability.
"My government will create favorable conditions for private sector participation in this project and will provide required resources to ensure provision of key infrastructure," Kenyatta said.
"We will utilize our well-trained manpower in engineering, agriculture, livestock, fisheries and research to exploit the opportunities created by this project in modern integrated irrigated agriculture and adoption of the latest irrigation technologies. This place will also serve as a practical training center of excellence for our young professionals," he said.
Saying 2014 is the year that the Jubilee manifesto comes alive, he said many of the projects launched last year will take off in earnest.
"Projects like LAPPSET [Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport], the Standard Gauge Railway Line, the Green Field Airport Terminal, and our energy projects that target 5,000 megawatts of electricity in the next 36 months, mean that we have chosen a path of transformation, which we intend to stay," Kenyatta said.
The president said the irrigation project will be implemented strategically to take advantage of the LAPSSET road and rail networks, airports and the proximity to the sea.
"All these will ensure efficient movement of produce to markets. The program will further spur growth of associated industries creating jobs and wealth," the President said.
Tailor-made capacity building will be carried out in the local communities to ensure that new technologies are put to use to control livestock diseases such as tsetse and trypanosomiasis, the President said.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei said this will be possible if the Galana-Kulalu food security project irrigation scheme is complete and successful.
"The Galana-Kulalu food program in Tana River and Kilifi counties is a flagship for Kenya to ensure there is enough food in the country. It will integrate various food and cash crops. It will also cater for livestock, fresh produce and fisheries," he said.
The five-year project will double the production of maize and Kenya will then be able to have enough and even export maize.
"This is an effort to address challenges of food security with associated high cost of living, rising food-driven inflation, poverty and growing social and political instability," he said.
Koskei said currently the food situation in Kenya is good with 13.3 million bags of maize in store with the projection of another 32 million bags from the harvest of the two rainy seasons. Endi
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