By Khalifa Hemed
Rural development projects financed by a specialised agency of the United Nations have contributed to increased productivity, incomes and food security in Kenya.
According to a report presented in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on December 5, 2018, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has Since 1979 invested US$376 million in 18 projects and programmes in the East African country.
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The report that is prepared by Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE) says that ‘IFAD has been innovative in bringing solutions around credit delivery, agro-processing and environmental management. Such interventions, while boosting agricultural productivity, have also led to higher incomes and improved food security for beneficiaries of all projects’.
IFAD and Kenya have worked together with small farming families to raise their production and incomes. Horticulture accounts for about 33 per cent of the country’s agricultural gross domestic product and 7 per cent of national gross domestic product. The programme had a significant impact on farmers’ incomes and food security.
“For nearly 40 years, IFAD and Kenya have worked together with small farming families to raise their production and incomes. The evaluation gives us further evidence of how these families have more access to diverse food, with higher levels of animal and vegetable proteins, ” says Donal Brown, Associate Vice-President in charge of Programme Management Department of IFAD. “We are determined to continue supporting the government in its efforts to improve food security and nutrition for rural families, while building on lessons learned to improve the impact of our efforts.”
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Calling for IFAD to continue playing what he refers to as ‘a stronger brokering role between farmers’ groups and private sector partners’, Oscar Garcia, Director of IOE, says, “We need to strengthen policy engagement and create more space and opportunities for engaging the private sector.”
Mwangi Kiunjuri, Kenya’s Minister for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation, while thanking IFAD, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and other Rome-based organisations for their support to Kenya since 1979, singled out as the following as ongoing of the 18 projects supported by IFAD: Kenya Cereal Enhancement Programme – Climate Resilient Agricultural Livelihoods Window (KCEP-CRAL) 2015-2022 ; Smallholder Dairy Commercialization Programme (SDCP) 2006-2020; Programme for Rural Outreach of Financial Innovations and Technologies (PROFIT) 2010-2019; Upper Tana Natural Resources Management Programme (UTaNRMP) 2012- 2020 and Aquaculture Business Development Programme (ABDP)2018-2025.
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“IFAD’s focus on Value Chain Development, Rural Financing, climate change and Natural Resource Management resonates very well with Kenya’s own BIG 4 Agenda and the Ministry’s “Agriculture Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy (ASTGS) 2018-2022 that expect to achieve 100% food and nutrition security, contribute to a healthy nation, employment and wealth creation through support to manufacturing and growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs),” Kiunjuri said during the Kenya Country Strategy and Programme Evaluation (CSPE) workshop.
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