Kisii – Elijah Obwori, Kisii County’s Executive Committee Member for Agriculture, has praised the Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme Phase Two (ASDSP II) for significantly enhancing the productivity and entrepreneurial skills of local farmers across various agricultural value chains. This commendation came during a visit from the programme’s National Secretariat Monitoring and Evaluation team, highlighting the successful collaboration between the county and development partners.
According to Kenya News Agency, ASDSP II has been instrumental in supporting farmers within the banana, dairy, and local chicken value chains, aiming to boost their productivity, develop their business acumen, and facilitate market access. He reported that this partnership has led to a notable increase in profits for the participating farmers.
The National Secretariat team, led by Marren Amoko, also took the opportunity to meet some of the programme’s beneficiaries. They commended the farmers for their dedication to the project’s success. Additionally, the team conducted evaluations on resource utilization, procurement processes, and the assets acquired through the programme, including a visit to Koniga farm in Kitutu Chache North Constituency, where farmers are engaged in banana aggregation and marketing.
Richard Otara, a banana farmer benefiting from ASDSP II, expressed his gratitude for the training and market access provided by the programme. “I have been able to sell my bananas at Sh18 per kilogram and make better profits unlike when I used to sell them in bunches. Last month, I sold 360 kilograms and earned more than Sh6000,” Otara detailed. He is part of the Kisii County Banana Production and Marketing Society, which collaborates with the Boka Eats factory in Kisii town and traders beyond the county to sell their produce.
The Kisii County Banana Production and Marketing Society now encompasses 70 groups dedicated to banana farming, cultivating a variety of banana species across the county. This initiative is part of the broader goals of ASDSP II, a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives, and all 47 county governments. The programme, funded by the Government of Kenya, Sida, and the European Union, ran for five years from 2017 to 2022. Its primary aim was to improve food and nutrition security and promote manufacturing through value addition by enhancing the capacity of various priority value chain actors to overcome commercialization challenges in agriculture.