The Homa Bay County Government is set to register more than half a million farmers who will benefit from subsidised fertiliser and other inputs ahead of the coming planting season.
Deputy Governor Oyugi Magwanga said the county has hired more than 575 enumerators and supervisors who are going to recruit the farmers.
Training of the enumerators was concluded on Tuesday ahead of the exercise, which kicks off next week.
Magwanga, who is the County Committee Executive Member for Agriculture, said the farmer listing is going to help the county government develop a database for supporting farmers in crop production.
Speaking Wednesday at Kabunde Social Hall, where he presided over the closing ceremony of the training of the enumerators, Magwanga said the registration would involve listing the cumulative number of farmers, their produce, and the scale of production. The enumerators will also take details about the farmers who rear livestock.
Magwanga said the exercise will enable them to distribute subsidised fertilisers to the farmers efficiently.
‘The data we are going to get from this exercise will enable us to know who should get the subsidised fertilisers during the imminent planting season,’ Magwanga said.
In what is aimed at promoting modern agricultural practices, Mangwanga said they are going to employ agricultural field extension officers to sensitise farmers. This will enable the farmers to gain knowledge about the best agricultural practices.
Magwanga said the data will inform the number of officers to be employed in wards.
‘We are going to employ the field extension officers in wards and villages, but their number will depend on the data to be collected.
The DG urged the enumerators to be committed in their work to enable them to take data on all farmers, saying that their main objective is to make Homa Bay food sufficient and asking everybody in the county to ensure they produce at least a crop.
‘I want our farmers to put a lot of effort into crop production. We are putting together an elaborate plan to ensure Homa Bay ceases to be a recipient of food produced in other counties,’ Magwanga said.
Source: Kenya News Agency