In spite of the government’s efforts to lease out larger portions of idle farms to the private sector, the Ministry of Agriculture will provide funding to support the planting of maize on 500,000 acres of vacant land owned by important State businesses.

PS: Agriculture According to Harsama Kello, they have plotted out land that will be covered with crops that belongs to the Kenya Agriculture Livestock Research Organization, Kenya National Youth Service, Kenya Prisons, and the Agriculture Development Corporation.

According to Mr. Kello, arrangements have already been made for the Agriculture Finance Corporation (AFC) to provide money to these state agencies so they can grow maize and lessen the yearly shortages.

“We have identified 500,000 acres that we are going to finance through AFC to enable these government agencies to put their idle land under food production,” he said.

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However, this is the first time the government has acknowledged using parastatals to increase food production on unused land. A Cabinet resolution to lease the land to the private sector had been approved by the administration of former President Uhuru Kenyatta. The PS stated that they would continue to lease the land to private investors and businesses who could farm huge tracts of land.

According to Mr. Kello, the money that will be lent to these organizations will be utilized to mechanize the fields and purchase farming equipment to guarantee that vast tracts of land would produce enough maize over the course of the next two years.