President William Ruto emphasized his administration’s commitment to eradicating hunger by prioritizing local food production.
Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Naitiri Market in Tongaren, Bungoma county, President Ruto expressed a firm determination to reduce the country’s reliance on importing food by fostering a robust environment for growing produce domestically.
“We cannot spend Sh500 billion every year to import food when we can grow it locally. That is why we must work together s government, citizens, farmers and private sector to ensure that we grow enough food in Kenya to avoid the challenge of importing food using our foreign exchange and encouraging hunger in our republic,” Ruto said.
“We want to eliminate hunger by growing food locally.”
President Ruto has also outlined a strategic approach that involves supporting farmers through various means, ensuring they have the necessary resources and assistance to boost agricultural output.
“I am committed to putting the shame of hunger behind us once and for all. We rolled out a country-wide farmer registration and fertiliser subsidy program that has made available 5.5 million bags to farmers across Kenya,” Ruto said.
The President has been deliberate in his efforts to support farmers to increase food production in the country.
Some of the interventions introduced to achieve this include subsidising fertiliser for farmers and reducing the cost from Sh6,500 to Sh2,500.
In October last year president Ruto said the country was looking at 2024 as the last year that it would receive maize from outside.