State to start manufacturing projects in rural areas

The government is preparing to start small manufacturing projects in several districts hoping to spur development at the grassroots level.

Dubbed one-village-one-product (OVOP), the programme will be carried out in 11 districts on a pilot basis, with the ambition to replicate it in all the districts.

The selected pioneer districts are Nyeri North, Laikipia West, Yatta, Kisii, Nandi East, Bomet, Vihiga, West pokot, Garissa, Isiolo, and Kwale.

“We want the communities to engage in actual manufacturing, using locally available resources,” said Prof John Lonyangapuo, the PS in the Ministry of Industrialisation. In Nyeri North, for instance, several projects that will revolve around value addition and marketing of honey and silk products have been identified.

OVOP currently has a budget of over Sh50 million.

According to Mr Lonyangapuo, the projects will be ongoing and another allocation to support them will be come in the next national budget.

The programme is being supported partially by the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) that is involved in training entrepreneurs and providing logistical solutions at the rural areas through donations of motorcycles.

While OVOP is rolling out, another government directive is set to improve the fortunes of small businesses engaged in making of furniture.

According to a circular issued last week to permanent secretaries and accounting officers in government ministries and bureaucracies, all public offices will buy only Kenyan-made furniture.

“This directive should be implemented by all ministries, state corporations, local authorities, and public agencies, and commissions funded from the exchequer,” reads the new policy which took effect from the 1 March.

Apart from the fact that the government is the single biggest spender in the economy, the directive has a major implication for the local furniture industry which has had to face competition from exotic furniture.

This narrows down the competition for government furniture supply contracts to independent makers and corrective institutions like prisons which are major players in the sector.

The move is likely to boost employment opportunities for Jua Kali artisans, manufacturers, and owners of furniture shops who deal in locally made furniture.

President Kibaki had earlier publicly announced the policy, saying it reflected the desire on the part of the government to ensure proper utilisation of public resources while creating employment opportunities for Kenyans.

As the implementation of OVOP begins, the fate of a similar initiative to create industrial centres at the constituency level appears to be sealed.

According to Mr Lonyangapuo, the drive for the creation of industrial centres in each constituency has failed.

The project was supposed to take off from the fourth quarter of last year, but a number of challenges and poor project design have stopped it altogether.

Buildings to house makers of various wares were to be constructed on two-acre pieces of land belonging to Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE) in various towns.

However, it soon emerged that most of the earmarked plots had been grabbed and were the subject of court cases to determine their true ownership.

Industrial centres that have been built have not attracted the interest of investors to work in them.

“Some buildings were done haphazardly without proper design while others are incomplete,” Lonyangapuo said.

The project, estimated to cost about Sh3.5 million per constituency, was among several in the Sh22 billion economic stimulus package announced by the government in the current fiscal year.

The PS said that unlike the industrialisation centre programme, OVOP will focus on facilitating entrepreneurs.

That is, training them and helping them add value and market their products and access finance.

There are several initiatives by various ministries to develop entrepreneurship at the local level, including the ministry of youth and industrialization.

There appears to be a lack of co-ordination of the diverse projects targeting the same residents.