SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON.

UHURU KENYATTA, CGH, PRESIDENT

AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCES OF THE
REPUBLIC OF KENYA, DURING THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE 2014
MOMBASA INTERNATIONAL SHOW, 28TH AUGUST, 2014
Distinguished Guests,
Fellow Kenyans,

It is a great pleasure to join you all today, at the opening of this years show.

For all the advances of recent years, agriculture remains at the heart of this
countrys afairs. In line with ision !"#", we have come to see the enormous
potential of commerciali$ed agriculture.

%y Government is therefore &een to promote competitive, commercially
oriented agriculture, with the most modern and e'cient technology we can
(nd. ) second core aim of my Government, in whose pursuit we are wor&ing
with our development partners and our private sector, is to attain food security
and sustaina*le land management.

+adies and Gentlemen,

,he reasons for these choices are clear. -o country has made major strides in
economic development without securing its peoples food.
-o country has advanced without improving the productivity of its lands. .ur
commitment to development means that we must commit to the most *asic
re/uirements of our citi$ens. ,hat is why we allocated the %inistry of
)griculture K0hs. #1 *illion in the !"234!"25 *udget for *oosting food
production. ,hese funds go to &ey 6agship projects including irrigation, input
su*sidies, (sheries management and development of disease7free $ones for
livestoc& development.

%y Government has also allocated K0hs. !.8 *illion this (nancial year, to
enhance and diversify the 0trategic Food 9eserve. In addition, the Government
will continue with the input su*sidy scheme, the *etter to cushion farmers
against high input prices and promote crop production.

+adies and Gentlemen,
,he food security we see& will also *e helped *y reductions in the costs of the
inputs that farmers need. In the last (nancial year, 21#,""" %, of assorted
fertili$ers worth over K0hs 1 *illion was procured and distri*uted.

In the current (nancial year, my Government has allocated K0hs. # *illion for
fertili$er and seed. ,his goes hand in hand with our medium7term plan which,
as we indicated a while ago, was to esta*lish a fertili$er manufacturing plant in
the country. ,he Government identi(ed a private investor in ,oyota ,susho,
who too& on the project. :e e;pect the (rst *atch of fertili$er in !"28.

+adies and Gentlemen,
,hough the greater proportion of our country is arid and semi7arid, the
irrigation potential of these lands has *een under7e;ploited. %y Government,
therefore, made irrigation a national priority. <nder the =;panded -ational
Irrigation >rogramme we shall reha*ilitate and e;pand national irrigation
schemes *y 53,#!" acres across the country. ?y !"21, we aim to have a
million acres under irrigation. ,his year, Kshs @.5 *illion shillings was allocated
to these ends, #.5 *illion of which will go to the Galana4Kulalu project in ,ana
9iver Aounty.

+adies and Gentlemen,
Borticulture remains one of our most signi(cant agricultural su*7sectors 77 last
year, the value of horticultural produce reached K0h.211 *illion, of which @5
*illion was e;ported. In recent years, however, challenges have emerged,
among them legislative and other hindrances in our e;port destinations. %y
Government will continue to enforce compliance and endeavour to nurture and
protect our e;port mar&ets.

,ea growing is no less vitalC it earned us K0hs 223.3 *illion in foreign e;change
in !"2#, and supports up to 2"D of our people. ,o unloc& the full potential of
the industry, my Government is (nali$ing the -ational ,ea Industry >olicy, in
consultation with a range of interested parties.

Aofee production accounts for up to ED of our total agricultural e;port
earnings and supports a*out 1"",""" families. In recent years, however, there
has *een a decline in production, which now stands at 5",""" %etric tonnes.

>oor management, price volatility, and other challenges are to *lame. :e still
e;pect cofee to earn the country a*out K0hs. 2@.5 ?illion this year, *ut it is
clear that we must do more, and /uic&ly. )s an initial step, we have introduced
fertili$er su*sidies for cofee and streamlined the -airo*i Aofee =;change
F-A=G through the review of the Aofee ,rading 9ules and appointment of the
-A= Aommittee. %ore complete re7organi$ation of the sector will follow soon.

+adies and Gentlemen,
,ime and again, research has shown that oil and nut crops have huge potential
to contri*ute to growth in the coastal region. Aoconut has the potential to
contri*ute up to K0hs. !5 *illion annually. +ittle of that potential has *een
reali$ed 77 a matter that should dismay us even more when we remem*er that
a ta&e7of in coconut production would sharply reduce the importation of crude
edi*le oils and fats. ,he commerciali$ation of coconut and coconut products is
imperative, especially for this region. %ine is to challenge those concerned with
ma&ing policy to put in place immediate measures to unloc& the potential in
the coconut industry.

+adies and Gentlemen,
+ivestoc& remain important right across Kenyan communities. ,he su*sector
contri*utes to the food and cash needs of many farmers, and provides
employment to a*out 2" million people. ,he countrys dairy cattle are
estimated at 3.! million head. In !"2#, mil& production was estimated at 5.!
*illion litres valued at Kshs. 223.3 *illion.

I am happy to note the country is self7su'cient in mil& production. %y
Government will do all it can to encourage the growth of this sector.

+adies and Gentlemen,
.ur meat production enjoyed a productive and prosperous year. In the last
year, e;ports of %eat and meat products grew ED. If we let *eef stand as an
indicator, 3!3,""" %, of it were produced locally last year, valued at up to
K0hs. E" *illion.

,o improve the performance of our meats in the e;port and domestic mar&ets,
my Government has allocated K0hs. 1"" million for restructuring the Kenya
%eat Aommission, K0hs. !1E million for the esta*lishment of livestoc& disease7
free $ones and another K0hs. !"" million to the )gricultural Development
Aorporation. ,he development of Disease Free Hones will ease access to
livestoc& and livestoc& products *y local, regional and international mar&ets. In
the ne;t (nancial year, ?achuma, %iritini and Kurawa +ivestoc& =;port Hones
will also *e developed to assist in ensuring we e;ploit the e;port *eef mar&et.

+adies and Gentlemen,
,he Fisheries su*7sector in Kenya has the potential to contri*ute signi(cantly to
the national economy and support food nutrition security. I am delighted to
note that production from (sh farming in Kenya has increased from 3,"""
%etric ,onnes to 31,""" %etric ,onnes over the last four years. ,o entrench (sh
farming in the minds of our young generation, my Government, through the
%inistry of )griculture, has prioriti$ed construction of (shponds in learning
institutions.

During the current (nancial year, K0hs. 2!! million has *een allocated to
support a/uaculture technology development in the country.

+adies and Gentlemen,
)s you will &now, I commissioned the Deep 0ea 9esearch essel F9.. %ta(tiG
early this year.

,his vessel will not only enhance the capacity of the Government of Kenya on
marine (sheries research through the Kenya %arine Fisheries Institute FK%F9IG,
*ut will also ena*le the country to e;pand its venture in the Indian .cean
=;clusive =conomic Hone F==HG and similarly *ene(t other :est Indian .cean
Aountries in )frica.

,he Government is also in the process of ac/uiring an .fshore >atrol essel for
surveillance of Kenyas Indian .cean ==H. In the !"23425 (nancial year, K0hs.
E"" million has *een allocated for this purpose.

)nother K0hs. 2@! million will *e spent on improving (sheries infrastructure
and capacity *uilding. ,he Government is also wor&ing out modalities for
esta*lishing a revolving (nancing scheme for local (sheries to *uild a (shing
6eet. %y Government will continue to support programmes and strategies for
improvement of the performance of this su*7sector.

Kenyas (sh enjoys access to international and regional mar&ets and we intend
to maintain this position.

,owards this end, my Government has allocated K0hs. #" million as a counter
fund for the construction of a (sh referral la*oratory in -airo*i to ensure the
highest possi*le sanitary standards for our (sh and (shery products.

+adies and Gentlemen,
,o further *oost investment in the agricultural sector, the )gricultural Finance
Aorporation F)FAG in the Financial Iear !"2#4!"23 dis*ursed K0hs. #.2 *illion.

Bowever, there are challenges in accessing agricultural credit, which I
ac&nowledge. +et me hasten to add that my government will do all it can to
meet them, and let me also add that there is room here for various (nancial
institutions to ofer farmer7friendly credit services to farmers in the country and
would continue urging the institutions to develop products that are farmer7
friendly.

:ith these remar&s, I now declare the %om*asa International 0how o'cially
opened.

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