NAIROBI, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Kenya is keen to expand market access for its agricultural products, and boost foreign exchange earnings and economic growth, senior officials said Wednesday at a forum in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.
Musalia Mudavadi, prime cabinet secretary and cabinet secretary for foreign and diaspora affairs, said that Kenya has accelerated the shift from subsistence to commercial agriculture as part of the economic transformation agenda.
Mudavadi, who spoke at the two-day financing agriculture conference, said that Kenya is working with international partners to expand market access for Kenyan agricultural products and promote investment in the sector.
Kenya is focusing on Africa to foster agricultural trade since the continent has immense potential to feed itself and become a major player in global agricultural markets, said Mudavadi.
He called for investment in infrastructure, such as rural access roads, storage facilities and irrigation systems to reduce post-harvest losses and improve market access.
Mudavadi stressed the need to allocate adequate resources for research and development, improve crop yields, enhance climate resilience and promote sustainable farming practices to foster ecosystem restoration. He encouraged the digitization of agricultural value chains, which presents an opportunity to improve efficiency and increase transparency.
Delegates at the conference including policymakers, investors, researchers and farmers lobby groups discussed financing options that can be adopted to revitalize a sector that contributes about 25 percent to Kenya's gross domestic product.
Mithika Linturi, cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said that despite the strategic intent and acknowledgment of agriculture as the pathway to socioeconomic development, funding and investment in the sector have been negligible.
Linturi attributed the current volatility in the agricultural sector to climate disasters, emerging pests and diseases and geopolitical tensions that have eroded investments.
The agricultural sector, according to Linturi, has been left largely to informal sector financing mechanisms that are insufficient to fuel its growth.
