Siaya County Agricultural Extension Officers received a major boost in mobility/service delivery having been given 21 Yamaha Motorcycles by the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries. The function held in Nyalgunga, North Alego Ward, was presided over by the Siaya County Governor James Orengo, indicating the commitment of the county government in raising productivity of agriculture and supporting the farmers. Apart from the motorcycles, another laudable activity was the handover of a cereal store for the people of the area, a vital asset that seeks to enhance storage and marketing of crops by farmers.
The provision of motorcycles for use by the Agricultural Extension Officers will help improve their capacity to access farmers in the different coverage centers, especially the many hard to reach areas in the county. This will enhance the movement of the extension officers to extend their services to various farmers to attend to their needs, offer timely consultation, support and monitor farmers to practice appropriate methods in their farming. The move acts as evidence for the commitment from the county government towards enhancing the production of agriculture in Siaya and the overall provision of the necessary resources and support to the farmers.
Another key highlight in the event was the handover of the cereal store, a structure that is believed to be of utmost importance in the development of the counties’ agriculture. The County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Agriculture, Mr. Silvestre K’Okoth averred that it shall mostly function as the grain reserve that will allow farmers to safely store their harvest as well as the center for the collection and supply of fertiliser. The development is especially vital as the challenges of postharvest losses have always militated against the capacity of farmers to preserve and store their produce adequately and thus in the right state that will retain the quality of the produce as well as its market value. The coaching of the officers by the National Cereal and Produce Board on the management of the farm warehouse also guarantees the efficiency in handling of the center, which will make the farmers to have confidence in the management of their produce.
Going into the future, the County Government has plans to open a similar facility in all wards. The strategic move is intended to lead in establishing an efficient agriculture value chain that helps the farmers in the county to have enhanced access to markets, inputs, and other services that are required in commercial production to enhance agricultural production. In farming, Governor Orengo’s administration’s aim has been to shift the farming system from the subsistence basis farming to the industrial or the commercial farming in Siaya. The change of policies is therefore anticipated to create new economic opportunities for the farmers in production for food security and overall development of the county.
The governor pointed out that his administration would scale up farming activities in Siaya as a way of moving away from subsistence farming. In advancing agricultural activity as a commercial venture, the county seeks to enhance the capacity of the farmers create higher incomes. The setting up of the Siriwo Rice Mill in Usonga Ward can therefore be deemed as a major boost and strategic for Siaya County in the upscale of large-scale farming of rice. This is a new complex meant for processing rice that meets and even goes beyond the local consumption level, thereby making Siaya County a producer of rice within Kenya. In enhancing industrialization of agriculture through its investment on Siriwo Rice Mill, the local economy is expected expand, employment generate for the people, particularly farmers so as to shift from subsistence to commercial farming in the county. This effort demonstrates the focus on implementing the Nyalore Manifesto by improving food security and economic diversification, which causes agriculture to be one of the key drivers of Siaya’s development.