Monday, June 23, 2008

Poor agriculture policy blamed for Kenyan underproduction

Kenya Broadcasting Corporation: The current food crisis is likely to worsen as the Kenyan population continues to grow. Speaking during an agricultural policy meeting held in a Nairobi hotel, Agriculture minister, William Ruto said his ministry is working on modalities to ensure the food crisis is put under control. He said the government intends to expand the acreage available for irrigation from 110,000 hectares to 1 million hectares in the next five years to put the country back on the path to food sufficiency.

The minister said in order for Kenya to achieve the Vision 2030 the country has to develop new ways of dealing with its agricultural problems. Ruto re-affirmed the government's commitment to partnering with the private sector to facilitate farmers' access to credit facilities.

Last week President Mwai Kibaki called for an urgent and decisive action to curb the rising food prices. Speaking when he officially opened the 25th Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Conference for Africa at the United Nations Office Nairobi, President Kibaki urged the participants to come up with practical recommendations that would help in permanently resolving the food crisis that has adversely affected the survival and well being of the vulnerable members of the society….

A roadside market in Kenya, shot by Angela Sevin, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License

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