Kenyan leader vows to invest in agriculture to boost food security

Nairobi, Kenya | Xinhua | Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday vowed to massively invest in agriculture to increase food production, and reduce the cost of living.

While addressing the nation during celebrations to mark this year’s Heroes Day, Ruto said his government will urgently construct many dams to help put 3 million acres (about 1.21 million hectares) of land under irrigation to end overreliance on rain-fed agriculture.

“We have to take very bold steps to end the perpetual cycle of hunger and dependency on rain-fed agriculture. We must eradicate hunger in our country in the shortest time possible,” he said.

Ruto also directed the immediate recruitment of 2,700 forest rangers and 600 forest officers to drive the government’s agenda to increase Kenya’s forest cover to more than 30 percent by 2032.

He said Kenya is concerned about climate change and its impact on the country as a whole, particularly the arid and semi-arid regions.

The Kenyan leader said climate change is complicating the country’s roadmap toward socioeconomic transformation and achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. He also said Kenya was currently faced with a severe drought, the worst in 40 years, due to failed rains for three years.

“As we seek short-term measures to respond to the evolving situation, I have directed that a long-term and sustainable solution to the planetary challenges be put in place. The ultimate solution includes greening our country to more than 30 percent of tree cover by 2032,” he said.

According to Ruto, data on Kenya’s forest cover was alarming since only 5.2 million square kilometers of Kenya’s 59.2 million square kilometers are under forest cover.

“The remaining 54 million hectares are bare earth, exposed to erosion and biodiversity loss. Over 80 percent of this lies in arid and semi-arid lands,” he said.

Ruto noted that the government is already implementing short-term measures to address the food shortages occasioned by the prolonged drought and is also providing subsidized fertilizer to boost production.

The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in Kenya currently stands at 4.35 million, a rise from 4.1 million in June, according to the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA).

A raft of measures the president listed for boosting agriculture includes scaling up seed multiplication for all crops.

Ruto, however, said irrigation is the ultimate solution in guaranteeing food security, adding that his government is seeking public-private partnerships to build as many dams as possible.