Kenya signs continental agricultural improvement scheme

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Kenya has officially launched its Agricultural Sector Development Strategy and signed Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP), thus showing the country’s commitment to domesticating the continental agricultural program.

Speaking during the launch in Nairobi on July 24, 2010 at Kenyatta International Confrence Center ( KICC) , President Emilio said the new strategy would propel further development of the country’s agricultural sector in line with the CADP. The strategy will see the country move towards aspirations of Africa Heads of States Maputo Declaration of 2003, where they pledged to support the agriculture sector in their respective countries by scaling up budgetary allocation to 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The new program appreciates private sector participation as key to sustainable growth in agriculture, aims at positioning the sector strategically as a key driver for sustained economic growth. Kibaki said his administration will create conducive conditions private sector to take over many commercial enterprises currently with the government. “The strategy’s overall objective is to achieve an agricultural growth of 7% per year over the next 5 years. It aims at positioning the agricultural sector strategically as a key driver for sustained economic growth,” he said

Kenya’s Agricultural Minister Dr Sally Kosgei promised raft policy, legal and regulatory reforms so that individual farmers feel encouraged to shift from subsistence production to market-oriented commercial production. Dr Kosgei urged farmers to shift from subsistence production to market-oriented commercial agriculture to benefit more from the reforms in the sector. The signing ceremony was attended by Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) whose Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya said they have provided technical support to Member States to sign and implement national and regional CADDP compacts.

Source: www.allvoices.com