State offers large scale farmers land lease in food drive

The Ministry of Agriculture will open up State-owned land for leasing to individual large-scale farmers as the government moves to ensure food security in the country through enhanced productivity.

Agriculture Principal Secretary Hamadi Boga said the ministry has already prepared a Cabinet memo.

The government will call for bidders who can plough at least a minimum of 2,500 acres in a season as it seeks to cut the annual food deficit in the country.

“We will be calling for bidders to plough the more than 50 parcels of land that the government owns for the purposes of food production,” said Prof Boga.

The government owns huge chunks of land across the country through agencies such as Agriculture Development Corporation and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation.

Galana-Kulalu ranch, currently under the management of the National Irrigation Authority (NIA), is part of the land that has been earmarked for leasing out to the farmers.

Prof Boga said in July that the project would only be successful if the government pulls out to allow private investors to take it over in large scale.

“Government should never be in the business of doing business, the way forward for the success of this project is to have private investors take it over,” said Prof Boga.

The government has been urging farmers with small parcels of land to cultivate alternative crops such as legumes and other short-term plants as it is not economically viable to cultivate maize on such plots.