The government of Kenya has allocated Sh 46.8billion to food and nutrition in the budget. National Treasury CS Ukur Yatani proposed the allocation and said it will support programmes under the sector.
Out of this, Sh4.2 billion will go to the National Agricultural and Rural Inclusivity Project; Sh1.7 billion for the Kenya Cereal Enhancement Programme; Sh1,9 billion has been proposed for the Emergency Locusts responses; Sh1.5 billion for the National Value Chain Support Programme; Sh1.1 billion for the Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme; Sh1.5 billion for the Small scale Irrigation and Value Addition Project and SH690 million for Food Security and Crop Diversification Project.
He said the Government will further set aside Sh2.7 billion for fertilizer subsidy to cushion farmers against the high cost of fertiliser for the planting season. This is in addition to the Sh3 billion allocated recently from the 2021/2022 supplementary budget.
Food security
“To safeguard food security in the country, the Government has allocated Sh3 billion to subsidize farmers during the current planting season. We propose to further allocate Sh2.7 billion in the FY 2022/2023 to cushion farmers while sustaining food production,” he said.
He said in order to maximize the benefits from cash crops, the Governemnt will allocate Sh212.1 million for modernization of cooperative cotton ginneries and a further Sh250.4 million for the cotton industry revitalization.
On livestock production improvement, the CS proposed Sh500 million for fire disease holding ground in Lamu; Sh1.7 billion for the Kenya Livestock Come Revitalization Programme and Sh121 million for Livestock Production under the Big Four initiative.
He also proposed an allocation of Sh1.9 billion for the aquaculture business development project; Sh2.8 billion for the Kenya Marine Fisheries and Socioeconomic Development Project: Sh1.3 billion for exploitation of living resources under the Blue Economy; Sh1 billion for construction of fish processing plant in Lamu; Sh270 million for Coastal Fisheries Infrastructure Development; Sh210 million for rehabilitation of fish landing sites in Lake Victoria.
To increase agricultural productivity and enhance resilience to climate change risks in targeted smallholder farming and pastoral communities in Kenya, the CS set aside Sh147 million for Climate Smart Agricultural Productivity Project; Sh850 million to drought resilience and Sh178 million towards ending drought emergencies in Kenya in addition.
He proposed an allocation of Sh421 million for the Livestock and Crop Insurance Scheme to reduce the vulnerability of Kenyan farmers to disease and natural disasters. Other proposed allocations include Sh90 million for revitalization of cotton industry, Sh300 million for fall army worm mitigation; Sh200 million for establishment of liquid nitrogen plant, Sh200 million towards the embryo transfer project and Sh250 million for construction and refurbishment of the Leather Science Institute.
