AGRIBUSINESS AND COUNTY GOVERNMENTS

Agribusiness

I firmly believe that the agricultural sector in Kenya has a huge potential to impact the lives of a wide section of Kenyans who are farmers and continue to live in dire poverty. We grew up being taught that agriculture is the backbone of our economy, but the irony is that majority of farmers continue to languish in poverty. This is because the previous governments have failed to build structures that will prevent farmers from exploitation by middle men and more importantly they ignored the issue of value addition. For instance, farmers export raw coffee abroad, where it is processed and later the coffee is imported back to Kenya and most of the farmers can't afford it.

The market for agricultural products in Kenya is also poorly developed. At some point, there was 'shortage' of maize in the country which was making flour prices to skyrocket but ironically, some farmers in various parts of the country had maize rotting in their farms since there was 'no market' for the maize.

In my opinion, devolution is a big stride in addressing this issue. unfortunately for us, we have a shortage of transformative and visionary leadership. Majority of our leaders are political shenanigans with mediocre management skills and are using strategic plans they probably downloaded from the internet. Having said so, we still have a few leaders who are working round the clock to develop their counties.

First of all, let me laud the efforts of Muranga's governor Mwangi wa Iria for his transformational leadership in Muranga county.Key in his manifesto was his pledge to refurbish the agricultural sector in Muranga county. He sought the expertise of the international firm Deloitte & Touche who helped him draft his master-plan.  Currently, some of his developments are Kes 50 million fertilizer and seed subsidy targeting about 6500 farmers, Kes 200 million irrigation scheme covering 1000 acres of land and benefiting 10000 farmers, Kes 500 million in purchase of 35 milk coolers for every ward and the formation of Muranga Investment Cooperative Sacco. The governor has also successfully facilitated the acquisition of a ready market of agricultural produce for farmers who are affiliated to cooperative societies, for instance  members of Muranga County Horticulture Growers Cooperative have been offered a ready market in the UK and will be receiving Kes 60 per kg of french beans as compared to Kes 35 they previously received from middlemen.

Mwangi wa Iria has demonstrated a people oriented leadership and has given other political shenanigans a wide berth. He is a good example of how agri-marketing and cooperative development should be a priority for all counties so as to uplift the livelihoods of Kenyans. If other governors of other counties could emulate him and adopt such agribusiness models, Kenya's economy would realize unprecedented growth.

There is a dire need to create robust cooperative societies that are professionally managed and regulated to ensure they benefit the farmers. The governors should also work in revamping the existing cooperative societies to ensure they are better managed. They should employ professional marketing practices both inside and out of the country to tap more markets for agricultural products. The cooperative societies should also conduct civic education to farmers on best practices and also inculcate value addition for various agricultural products. This will help to reduce the middlemen headache and increase the returns for farmers.