The Ministry of Agriculture has announced that it will reconfigure two World Bank–funded agriculture projects, changing how they work to respond to the country's worsening drought situation, especially in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL).
The two programmes the ministry is targeting include the Food Systems Resilience Program (FSRP) and the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP), which are ensuring both immediate drought response and longer-term agricultural value chain development across the country.
Speaking during a meeting with governors on Wednesday, December 17, the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary said that some projects that were initially planned under the two programmes have already been paused.
Under the new approach, the ministry aims to use the two programmes to help in the transportation of fodder, the delivery of water to pastoral areas, and interventions to save livestock.
The ministry has reallocated funds to these interventions in counties facing acute drought. The approach aims to ensure that drought response is taken as an all-of-government approach, with livestock, crops, and human livelihoods addressed as one, according to the ministry.
“We sit at a critical point where we must reprogramme these two programmes to respond to the current drought reality, while also putting in place permanent solutions to avert future crises,” CS Kagwe said.
Echoing Kagwe's remarks, the governors noted that 80 per cent of funds for the two projects should be channelled directly to the field-level interventions, rather than administrative costs.
The funds, according to the governors, should be used to scale up irrigation, feedlots, strategic fodder reserves, and storage facilities to cushion farmers during climate shocks.
“Capacity-building funds must be reallocated. Going forward, resources will no longer be absorbed by recurrent expenditure,” said Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka, COG Chair of the Agriculture Committee.
In its forecast, the Kenya Meteorological Department warned that the country is expected to experience hotter and drier than usual conditions over the next three months.
Agriculture Digitisation
During the meeting, the leaders also agreed to leverage the Kenya Agricultural Digital Integration Centre (KADIC) in modernising the agriculture sector.
According to the ministry, the centre will be used to link counties on soil data, pest control, animal identification, and vaccination records to improve the sector's productivity, traceability, and access to international markets.
“Young people must begin to see agriculture as modern, profitable, and ‘cool’, especially in value addition,” Kagwe said.
