As part of Uhuru’s recent eight-point, Sh53.7 billion Economic Stimulus Programme, the National Government through the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Enterprise Development has moved to construct Banana cold storage and processing plants in three counties.
One of the plants will be in Kisii County and will be ready in three months. It is fully funded by the national government at a cost sh. 91 Million.
While Commissioning the construction, Nyanza Regional Commissioner James Kianda said that the government is also putting up two such facilities in Nyandarua and Meru counties at a total cost Sh300 million.
MSEA CEO Henry Rithaa said that banana production in the country has moved from subsistence to cash crop farming owing to demand and ability of the crop to transition to more market-based food systems, making both fresh and processed value-added products such as crisps, wine and jam.
The fifth element of the president’s stimulus programme is agriculture. The government will spend Sh3 billion on the supply of farm inputs through e-vouchers targeting 200,000 small-scale farmers to cushion farmers from the effects of adverse weather, and to secure food supply chains in the post-COVID-19 period and into the future.
Further, under this element, another Sh1.5 billion has been set aside to assist flower and horticultural producers to access international markets, in a period where there is a shortage of flights into and out of the country.
