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Sweden rolls out Sh5.7bn support for agriculture
Nakuru County Governor Susan Kihika (right) chats with Swedish ambassador to Kenya Caroline Vicini at the county headquarters on July 26, 2023. PHOTO | BONIFACE MWANGI | NMG
All the 47 counties will benefit from a Sh5.692 billion food security programme that is co-funded by SIDA of Sweden, the European Union and the Kenya government.
The Agriculture Sector Development Support Programme (ASDSP) was designed by the Ministry of Agriculture and the 47 county governments to address food security, nutrition and manufacturing.
Each county is identifying three priority areas for value addition.
Nakuru County has picked pyrethrum, fishing and milk production.
Speaking during a meeting with the Swedish ambassador to Kenya Caroline Vicini, Nakuru governor Susan Kihika pointed out that agriculture was the core of the county's policies and strategies towards food security and value addition.
She confirmed that Nakuru has 134 value chain organisations under the programme with 56 groups in milk production, 52 in pyrethrum and 26 in fish farming.
A total of 7, 547 households are participating in the programme across the county, the governor said.
“Out of the 134 groups highlighted in the ASDSP progress report, I am happy to report that we have 23 well-organised co-operatives —14 in the cow milk value chain, pyrethrum (4) and fish (5),” said Ms Kihika.
The governor asked the ambassador to facilitate linkages with similar groups in Sweden for local farmers to learn more about co-operatives and value chains in agriculture.
The county has made the revival of pyrethrum growing a flagship project to create employment and wealth under the national government's Vision 2030.
At least 10,000 farmers are growing pyrethrum on 2,148 acres across the 11 sub-counties but the governor said the county has the potential to put 30,000 acres under the crop.
The county is banking on the building of the pyrethrum processing factory in Naivasha and the planned construction of the County Aggregation and Industrial Park at Egerton Agro-City to upscale value-addition.
