Makueni County Governor Mutula Kilonzo Junior has said his administration
has made tremendous progress in achieving food security.
The Governor made the remarks on Thursday when
distributing farm tools and gadgets to hundreds of agripreneurs and extension
officers.
The tools and gadgets are set to go into the villages to
assist farmers with the best farming methods that will see them achieve
tremendous harvests in the long run.
"I’m certain that if our farmers apply the best farming
practices, Makueni will be on the global map regarding food security,” the
county boss said.
The extension officers have received immense training on
specific issues that are exclusive to Makueni County.
The training is based on the value chains that Makueni wants
to promote including vegetables, avocados, pixies oranges and mangoes.
Mutula exuded confidence that the initiative will empower
farmers and turn around the county’s value chain system.
"Our production is estimated to increase by 60 per cent if all measures put in place are fully implemented," said Mutula.
He said the new measures seek to redeem the Kamba community
that he said has been ridiculed for years.
"I remember someone sang a bad song about our mangoes
and I sued him. Going forward, it won't be the same again," added the
Governor.
Makueni County Executive for Agriculture Joyce Mutua said
that they have trained a team of over 300 extension officers to ensure that the
County has food security.
"We are in the business of fighting food insecurity which
is our enemy,” said Joyce.
She highlighted that the use of modern technology in our
farms will increase yields.
“Go and advise the farmers correctly to move in the right
direction if we are to win this culture of food insecurity,” she told the
extension officers.
Makueni County Assembly agriculture committee chair Francis
Mutuku on his part urged the county government to continue prioritizing the empowerment
of agricultural officers for better production.
