Agriculture and livestock cabinet secretary Mr. Willy Bett has challenged youths to take agricultural exhibitions as learning opportunities as they had been organized by the government in a bid to better the sector.
He said many people had mistaken the events organized by the Agriculture Society of Kenya for places for fun saying as much as there should be entertainment; the public has to learn the diversified technology in agriculture and food production as displayed on various stands.
He said agriculture has the potential to employ at least 75 per cent of the Kenyans challenging the youth who are largely unemployed to venture into agribusiness and not to wait for white collar jobs.
"The richest people in the country rely on agriculture as a business yet most young people want white collar jobs that are nowhere for them. Agriculture is the reason why we have airstrips and planes because it is the most viable way of income generation," said the CS.
He has asked youths graduating from universities to form groups from which they can obtain government facilitation in self-employment creation through embracing new technology in farming.
He revealed that he had been impressed by the level of advancement in the sector as portrayed by the three-day event and urged members of the public to turn out on such occasions so as to learn new farming techniques and improve on existing ones.
He said the events were not organized for the government but for the public's own good after it emerged that the shows were nearly losing meaning given that President Kenyatta had not attended the event as expected by members of the public in the region.
The CS has dismissed claims that the fish imported from China is illegally procured emphasizing that there is great potential in the business and it was not by accident.
Speaking on Friday during the Kisumu regional show at Mamboleo exhibition grounds, Mr. Bett said rightful procedure had been followed before issuance of permit to the importation of fish into the country from various countries.
Recently, there was a public outcry over existence of fish imported from China in markets within Kisumu and Homa Bay counties which are main sources of most fish in the country believed to be from Lake Victoria.
"It is not strange that there are fish from China in our markets just like we have the local ones selling, there is much business in fish and they are very safe to be consumed without any doubt,” said Mr Bett.
He added that the only concern is sustainable management of fisheries and their rearing so as to better the livelihoods of those relying on the sector as farmers and fishermen.
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