Photo: Minister John Simon
According to Minister John Simon, the Department of Agriculture and Livestock has the capacity to give the country economic independence within the next five to ten years.
He claimed that around 90% of those who reside in rural areas are actively engaged in agriculture. The goal of the government is to increase output and open up markets.
“The DAL will give economic independence to the country in the next five to 10 years because the Government has been supporting the department with funding to improve the market and export,” he said.
Simon claimed that he has been working to develop initiatives and price support schemes for agricultural and cash crop items to boost value and output.
According to him, the price campaign and instructions issued to exporters not to manipulate prices will result in an increase in the overall export of agricultural products.
“We (Government) knew the market prices so we told the exporters to pay the right price to the farmers and producers to increase production,” he said.
“We are paying better prices for coffee and cocoa so you can see the production started to increase.”
According to Simon, the nation used to earn between K350 million and K400 million from only exporting coffee.
This year, it will rise to K800 million.
“We are now encouraging the people to grow cocoa and coffee to benefit from the Government support programme,” he said.
Reference: The National (28 June 2022). “Potential in agriculture to drive economy”.
