13.3. Role of Counties in Agricultural development County agricultural capacity is certainly the bedrock of food security in Kenya. County governments must be aware that boosting productivity requires more fertilizers and seeds, stronger research and development, and a more coordinated and responsive extension system staffed by experts versed in the behaviors and habitats of local farming communities. They should provide “smart subsidies,” which encourage smallholder farmers to shift to high-yield crop varieties without saddling the state with long-term costs, can energize food production and markets. Research that embraces local farmers’ knowledge as part of the technology for improving yields can deliver results where blinkered laboratory designs have failed. Encouraging smallholder farmers to adopt new inputs begins with understanding their resistance to change. Therefore, at the County level Policy-making and legal development should be focused in building agriculture. Indeed, to achieve sustainable agricultural development, County Governments ought to enact modern, efficient and harmonised legal and regulatory framework that will facilitate achievement of the desired outcomes and overall economic growth and development. Under the Constitution, Counties are the centre of the agricultural development in Kenya. This places an onerous duty to counties, through legislation to create a framework that will transform the agricultural sector into a more commercially oriented and competitive sector capable of attracting private investment and providing higher incomes and employment. The laws developed by the counties are supposed be congruent with policy prescriptions in the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy (2010-2020) amongst other policy blue-prints. Under the Constitution, national government has jurisdiction to prescribe agricultural policies for Kenya.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 13:38:41 +0000
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