President William Ruto and other African leaders secured a Ksh1.2 trillion in funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Wednesday, January 25, during the Feed Africa Summit in Dakar, Senegal.
Ruto stated that the funding would be channeled toward food production in Africa for five years.
Additionally, the president stated that there was need for private and public partnerships to aid agricultural projects in the country because of the decline in food production at a time when the demand was high.
“We are grateful to the African Development Bank which has pledged to invest Ksh1.2 trillion in food production in Africa.
“There exists huge opportunities for the partnerships that will enable us to undertake large agricultural projects because of the increasing demand for food,” Ruto stated.
Moreover, Ruto affirmed that Kenya had several agricultural opportunities including investment in farm input supply, irrigation, and production.
“These opportunities including investments in actual production, farm input supply, and irrigation will meet our need for adequate production,” the president stated.
Ruto challenged the private sector to make investment partnerships with the government by complementing government agricultural programmes.
"Support to government programs from the private sector will lead to a boost in long-term agricultural production in the country," Ruto explained.
Ruto was a keynote speaker at the Dakar 2 Summit on Food, Sovereignty and Resilience, which was part of his three-day official visit to France and Senegal.
On Tuesday, January 24, the President held bilateral talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The meeting focused on, among other areas, the strengthening of trade ties between the two nations.
Whilst admitting the existence of strong bilateral relations, Ruto and Macron committed to adopting measures aimed at diversifying and harnessing existing business opportunities between Nairobi and Paris.
The President also discussed Kenya's participation in security operations to restore peace in the East and Central African region.
