Sweden Gives Kenya Sh648M Grant to Register Farmers Countrywide

Sweden has given Kenya an Sh647.9 million ($5.2million) grant to fund the registration of farmers and establish a national central farmers’ database.

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi said the government is committed to registering all farmers and using data to undertake sound planning in the sector.

“This is part of the government mission to the full transformation of the sector and more so ensure farm inputs are distributed directly and in a transparent approach, “ he said.

Linturi spoke during the launch of phase two of the Kenya Integrated Agriculture Management Information System (KIAMIS) at Kilimo House yesterday.

He added, “This system was first presented and endorsed by Governors during the 5th Annual Devolution Conference held in April 2018. KIAMIS is basically a digital platform with various components that enable us to organize and put our data together and then use the data to implement various farmer support services.”

The ministry, he confirmed has partnered with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) to design and implement the programme in order to facilitate the use of data and digitisation of various services in the agricultural sector.

Once the data is properly packaged, the CS stated the same will be shared with the county Governments among other agriculture stakeholders.

FAO Kenya Representative Carla Mucavi said the nature of the information the plan will be seeking includes acreage, location, types of crops, and possible output a farmer record every season.