BOMET, Kenya
This year’s South Rift Agribusiness Fair (SRAF) is rooting for tax incentives in farming activities as well as urging the government to address issues on food insecurity in the country, organizers say.
The organizers have also urged the farmers in Rift Valley to adopt agribusiness practices in order to maximize returns from their various farming activities in the coming years.
Speaking at a precursor forum ahead of the upcoming South Rift Agribusiness Fair (SRAF) 2012, event Executive Director Mr David Ruto said the merits of agribusiness are vast and offer a practical solution to unemployment and food security in Kenya.
Mr Ruto noted that with the rising demand of food occasioned by the growing population (associated with low mortality rate), achieving food sufficiency remains a key challenge among Kenyan farmers and he’s now urging the government to provide incentives to help grow the sector.
“Smallholder farmers hold the key to food sufficiency in Kenya and the sooner we empower them, the faster we will solve the issue of food insecurity that has plagued this country for many years,” said Mr. Ruto.
He maintained that effective adoption of agribusiness would enable Kenya achieve a wide range of benefits among them being: reduced drudgery for laborers; the release of workers for nonagricultural endeavors; a better quality of food and fibres; a greater variety of products; improved nutrition; and increased mobility of people.
“The release of farm manpower and the creation of new, off-the-farm jobs will form the basis for the country’s economic growth and development for the coming years,” Mr. Ruto said.
Similarly, the South Rift Agribusiness Fair (SRAF) 2012 organizers are urging for adoption of relevant technologies to aid agribusiness. According to the director, small-scale farmers are frequently reluctant to adopt new technologies because of the possible risks and costs involved.
This, he says has hampered effective food production thereby causing a deficit in the output per acre. “It is up to the stakeholders in this sector to provide alternative methods and help farmers explore various technologies available,” Mr. Ruto said.
The upcoming the South Rift Agribusiness Fair (SRAF) 2012 is organized by Red Oak Communications – a Nairobi – based Communications Consultancy Company – and will bring together service providers, farmers and experts in agribusiness to share knowledge as well as financial service providers to explore areas of cooperation.
This exhibition offers farmers in rift valley areas of Bomet, Kipkelion, Ainamoi, Molo, Belgut Bomet, Transamara, Nakuru, Narok, Chepalungu, Sotik, Konoin, Bureti, Kipkelion and Kericho a chance to learn more for a brighter farming future. Last year’s event saw attendance by close to 10,000 farmers from the larger South Rift region and exhibitors taking part.
This year’s event has exhibitors ranging from dealers in Agro-Chemicals, Finance, NGOs, Government agencies and departments (livestock, Agriculture, forestry and tourism), insurance, dairy firms, livestock, crops, farm machinery, water resources, energy & power, Investments & Savings among others.
So far, there are over 50 exhibitors lined up for the event and organizers are upbeat for a more interactive event. This is the second time the SRAF event is being hosted. The first one was held on last year in April and it attracted close to 10,000 farmers.
The event is sponsored by Standard Media Group, Coopers Kenya, Molo Milk, Kass Media, Syngenta among other organizations.
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