Homa Bay County Government’s Department of Agriculture and Livestock through the National Agricultural Inclusive Project (NARIGP) has distributed equipment and tools worth 13 Million to farmer SACCOs across the County in an event held at the Governor’s Park, Homa Bay Town.
The equipment distributed include 50 solar pumps, 20 desktops and 20 printers, 200 beehives, and 6 testing kits geared towards increasing food security in the County.
Homa Bay County Governor H.E Gladys Wanga and her Deputy who is also the County Executive Committee Member for Agriculture H.E Joseph Oyugi Magwanga presided over the event.
Speaking at the Launch, Governor Wanga underscored the importance of Farmer SACCOs. “I appeal to all the farmers to join the Ward SACCOS since my Administration is in the process of structuring all agricultural activities through these SACCOs,” she said. She asked the SACCOs to recruit more members especially women and youth in order to strengthen the SACCOs.
She lauded the Department of Agriculture for the commendable job done during the just concluded farmer registration exercise. “I am pleased that so far Homa Bay tops the Country with 245,000 registered farmers”. Governor Wanga however disclosed that registration in the County is still ongoing in order to map as many farmers as possible to the Database.
The Governor said the County Government is keen to take a lead in fish since we occupy 80% of Lake Victoria, cotton farming, and growing of edible oil like sunflower, groundnuts, soya, and oil palm alongside other crops.
Deputy Governor Oyugi Magwanga while speaking to the farmers stressed the importance of registration because unregistered farmers will not benefit from government subsidies. He further implored farmers to test their soil to ensure optimum production.
Dr. Joash Aloo, CECM for Water, Irrigation, Sanitation, Environment, Forestry and Climate Change informed the farmers to use the toll-free number of the recently launched Climate Information Center to know the weather patterns to enable them to know the right time to plant.
NARIGP County Project Coordinator Erick Adel said they were pleased to partner with the Homa Bay County Government and asked Governor Wanga to ensure the sustainability of their activities as the Project comes to closure in a few months’ time.
