The Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority (Tarda) has opened up 3,400 acres of idle arable land in Embu County for a 15-year lease to free up the land for crop production.
“This land is suitable for large-scale agricultural and value-chain processing activities,” said Tarda in a tender call.
Tarda is one of the six regional development authorities, including the Kerio Valley Development Authority, the Lake Basin Development Authority, the Ewaso Nyiro North Development Authority, the Ewaso Nyiro South Development Authority and the Coast Development Authority.
The Tarda land lease is part of a plan to lease 21,000 acres of idle public land belonging to the National Youth Service (NYS) and Tarda for farming.
In February, the Agriculture Ministry said the leases would be part of its land commercialisation initiative. The programme targets to lease up to 500,000 acres of idle pieces of land and attract Sh65 billion in agricultural investments.
The State said it would lease 20,000 acres of land within Samburu Kirimun belonging to NYS, which is being used for livestock production, wildlife conservancy and tree plantations.
The Kirimun land is the largest of the 22 agricultural sites NYS owns.
“The government of Kenya aims to select one of multiple private operations that can start agricultural and or forestry activities,” said the ministry.
Tarda has been expanding its portfolio in recent years, including in energy, to maximise its earnings.
The authority recently revealed a plan to lease part of its underutilised land in Kiambere and Masinga to private investors to set up 40-megawatt and 50-megawatt solar power plants, respectively.
“The PPP (public-private partnership) arrangement will utilise idle assets, increase the availability of affordable renewable energy, empower local communities, allow private sector participation, assure food security, wealth creation in the area and generate revenue for Tarda’s sustainability through land lease,” said Tarda.
