The Kitui County government through the County Agriculture and Livestock Development Ministry is providing the inclusion grants to the farmers’ savings and credit cooperative societies across Kitui County. The grants are by the National Agricultural and Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP).
The county government rolled out the programme in the county recently where the ceremony took place within the Tharaka Assembly Ward Office compound within Kitui County’s Mwingi North Constituency. The County Agriculture and Livestock Development Minister, Dr. Stephen Mbaya Kimwele was the event’s chief guest.
The funding for the programme’s first phase is some 13 million shillings. And the initiative’s second phase is going to be rolled out, expanding the project’s impact across the county. The grant is designed to help the saccos establish offices and support initial operational costs, benefitting the farmers across the entire Kitui County.
It is providing the much-needed financial support to the farmers to cover the office rent, book-keeper stipends, internet services, short message service (SMS) and data bundles, application programme interface (API) services, stationery, office furniture, computers and printers, fire and burglar-proof installations and member mobilization efforts.
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Addressing the function, Minister Kimwele termed the initiative as a game-charger that will help ease the saccos operations in the Kitui County. He said: “This initiative is a game-charger for our farmers as it will strengthen their cooperative structures, enabling them to access better services and improve productivity.”
“By supporting the saccos with essential resources, we are empowering them to effectively manage their operations and deliver more value to the members,” the minister added. Kimwele urged the farmers to join the groups in order to reap maximum benefits from the government and development partners. The NAVCDP’s inclusion grant is part of a broader strategy to enhance agricultural productivity and promote the value chain development.
The project aims to boost the local economies by strengthening the role of the savings and credit cooperative societies in facilitating the financial inclusion and improving access to the agricultural services for the farmers across Kitui County. “The project among others also seeks to enhance the food security in the Kitui County in line with the Governor Dr. Julius Makau Malombe’s development plan for the county,” Kimwele said.
The occasion was also addressed by the Tharaka Assembly Ward Member Muthengi Ndagara among others. The NAVCDP is a community driven development project that seeks to increase market participation and value addition for targeted small-scale farmers in Kenya. It is a Kenya’s government project with co-funding from the World Bank and the Kenya’s government. It was established by the Kenya’s government in September 2022.
By BONIFACE MULU
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