Head of Public Service Felix Koskei has said farmers must be at the centre of Kenya’s economic transformation as the government prepares for a national summit to review progress in the agriculture sector.
Koskei said the government had made significant progress in implementing agricultural reforms and commitments under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), four years after President William Ruto pledged to place farmers at the heart of the country’s economic transformation.
He spoke after chairing a meeting of the technical committee preparing for the 6th National Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Summit scheduled for October 7 to 9.
The summit will bring together farmers from across the country, county governments, young innovators and development partners at the KICC in Nairobi.
Koskei said the forum would provide an opportunity to assess progress made in transforming agriculture and agree on the next steps towards achieving food security and food sovereignty.
“The measure of progress is simple: farmers earning more from their work and families able to put food on the table,” he said.
The summit will also focus on creating better employment opportunities in the agricultural sector and strengthening food systems to make the country more resilient.
The third and final day of the summit will be held at State House, where participants are expected to deliberate on the outcomes of the two-day meeting at KICC.
Koskei said the government remained focused on ensuring that agricultural reforms translate into tangible benefits for farmers and households.
The summit comes as the Government seeks to deepen implementation of its agricultural transformation agenda, which has identified food production and value chains as key components of the BETA programme.
Farmers are expected to use the summit to assess the impact of ongoing reforms, share experiences and propose measures to improve productivity and returns from agriculture.
Young innovators will also participate in the meeting, providing an opportunity to showcase technology and new approaches being applied to agriculture and food production.
The meeting was attended by several Principal Secretaries, including Paul Ronoh (Agriculture), Stephen Isaboke (Broadcasting and Telecommunications), Festus Ng’eno (Environment), Patrick Kilemi (Cooperatives), Ephantus Kimotho (Irrigation) and Betsy Njagi ( Blue Economy and Fisheries).
Other senior government officials also attended the technical committee meeting as preparations for the summit entered the final stages.
The summit is expected to bring together stakeholders from different parts of the agricultural value chain, including farmers, national and county governments, innovators and partners.
The government has placed agriculture at the centre of its economic transformation plans, with increased focus on raising production, improving markets and strengthening food security.
Koskei said the discussions would ultimately be judged by whether farmers were able to earn better incomes from their work and whether Kenyan families could reliably access food.
The three-day summit will therefore provide a platform for stakeholders to review the progress made so far and chart the next phase of Kenya’s agricultural transformation.
