The Ministry of Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Development Cabinet Secretary (CS) Simon Chelugui has urged Saccos to support the development of different value chains in the country in order to uplift livelihoods.
Speaking in Kakamega during the launch of Invest and Grow (IG) Sacco’s 2023-2027 Strategic Plan, the CS urged Saccos to support the artisanal miners in the acquisition of equipment that is safe and secure as well as enable the transformation of gold mines in the Western region for the better.
He promised to convene a meeting with all CECs and Chief Officers in charge of Cooperatives across the country to discuss respective cooperative activities in their counties before allocation of resources at the National level to support the priority value chain in each county.
Chelugui said that through the cooperative approach, the National Government is improving the dairy sector which began with modernization and will follow up with the upgrade of dairy plants in Eldoret, Kitale, Kericho, Runyenjes, Embu, Miritini, Kiganjo and Nyahururu among other select regions.
“We are preparing our dairy sector to increase the production of processed milk from 1.5 million litres per day to 4.5 million litres per day. We will be putting up plants in Eldoret for our export market. So we need a similar corresponding increase in production from areas like Kakamega, Vihiga, Bungoma and other areas with suitable climatic conditions,” he said.
At the same time, the CS said that the government, through his Ministry, will soon launch a cotton ginnery in Busia County and also promote palm oil production in Homabay County.
“I challenge other counties around the lakes who have suitable climatic conditions to adapt and promote the growth of palm oil because that will save us a lot of money. We spend between Ksh100 and Ksh200 billion in importing edible oils yet we have good climatic conditions that can support the growth of palm trees,” he said. IG Sacco is celebrating 46 years since its inception in 1977 with a membership of 33,724, an asset base of Ksh13.2 billion, an income of Ksh664.2 million and a loan portfolio of Ksh9.8 billion.
By Vostine Ratemo
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