Kenya’s Sh3b stimulus package for irrigation

By John Oyuke

The Government has unveiled a Sh3 billion-investment plan as part of a new programme to reduce the country’s reliance on rain-fed agriculture.

The funds would initially be allocated towards rehabilitation and expansion of irrigable land under Bura, Hola, Tarda, Wei Wei and Kerio Valley.

Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta said through the investment, the Government could harvest about a million bags of rice and maize by the end of this year.

"As we scale up resources toward irrigable agriculture, we are confident we will emerge as a net exporter of food by 2012," he stated in the 2009 Budget.

Implementation of the strategy to enhance food production in the country comes a year after Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra) launched an initiative to double Africa’s rice production by 2018.

　

First wave

The pact that builds on the shared strengths of the organization to reach the ambitious goal was formalized at the Coalition for African Rice Development (Card) second General Meeting in Tokyo, Japan early this month.

Kenya is among the "first wave" of 12 African rice-producing nations to benefit from the initiative. Other countries include Tanzania and Uganda, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

With the support of the Card Secretariat, hosted by Agra, all the beneficiary African counties have produced the first versions of their strategies.

In the coming year, according to Agra, Card will work on similar strategies with the "second wave" of rice-producing countries, that is Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, the DRC, Liberia, Rwanda, the Gambia and Togo.

Dr Namanga Ngongi, the Agra President said deepening cooperation between the two organisations is an important step towards significantly boosting rice production by Africa’s smallholder farmers.

"Card has been instrumental in nurturing development of national strategies to increase the productivity and production of rice," said Ngongi.

　

development in agriculture

Senior JICA Vice President Kenzo Oshima said the long-term partnership with Agra would move the Japanese agency further along its critical path of engagement in agricultural development in Africa.

"We have a rich history of national, regional and international partnerships for change, and Card’s effectiveness thus far bears witness to the potential of our collaboration," Mr Oshima said.

He said rice specialists in Japan and other parts of the world are eager to bring their expertise to bear on transforming Africa’s rice sector.

It is estimated that the demand for rice in sub-Saharan Africa is double the rate of population growth currently and, at about 5.8 per cent per year.

Consumption is also growing faster than that of any other major staple food.

　

low supply

Across Africa, local production has been unable to keep up with the rate of increase in demand.

In the past 50 years, rice production in Africa has increased to 14.60 million tonnes (from about 3.14 million tonnes), much of that increase based on expanding the area devoted to the crop.

During the same five decades, Asia has increased rice production on a much grander scale, to about 570 million tons (up from some 200 million tons), with most of this coming from higher yields on existing farmland.

Mr Hiroshi Hiraoka, co-ordinator of the Card Secretariat said rice is quickly becoming a major staple food for urban and rural consumers alike.

"African production increases, which have been achieved mainly by expanding the area devoted to rice, are not keeping pace with demand," he says.

Hiraoka said the two organisations want to double Africa’s rice production in 10 years by encouraging specialists from rice-producing countries of sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world to share experiences and knowledge about how to promote rice in the continent.

"Making such cooperation a reality is the purpose behind the long-term agreement being signed by JICA and Agra," he said in the statement.

Hiraoka noted that the rice production situation in Africa mirrors the general food production challenges facing the continent – as well as the opportunities for overcoming them.

　

 

 

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