President Ruto at the ongoing Dakar 2 Summit – Feed Africa in Dakar, Senegal [Photo: State House-Twitter]
President William Ruto has called on African leaders to take the discourse on agriculture beyond production to value addition and manufacturing.
Speaking during the Dakar 2 Summit – Feed Africa in Senegal on Wednesday, he said Africa has the potential to produce surplus food for export, noting that this can generate more income and create jobs.
He challenged other African countries to adopt Kenya’s strategy towards realizing food security through value addition, technology adoption and mechanization.
Ruto said for instance, due to value addition the returns in the tea sector have been tenfold.
“The greater the participation of technology, the better the returns for our agricultural sector. What is Kenya doing? We are expanding our fertilizer input. This year we have 600,000 metric tonnes made available to farmers.
There is no magic, there is no miracle. If you have sufficient fertilizer in the correct quantity, in the correct prescription, you get the outcome,” Ruto said.
The Head of State also challenged the Private Sector to complement government programs so as to stimulate sustainable agricultural production.
“There exist massive opportunities for public-private partnerships to undertake large agricultural projects in Kenya owing to the declining food production at a time demand is rising.
These opportunities include investments in farm input supply, irrigation and the actual production,” he said.
President Ruto is currently in Senegal for the Dakar 2 Summit on ‘Feed Africa: Food, Sovereignty and Resilience’.
The summit was organized by the Africa Development Bank.
A newsmaker, reporter and anchor at Pearl Radio, Ndalilah Sharon is witty and savvy.
She is also a firm believer of Christ.