Statement by the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the Republic of Kenya and Chairman ASARECA Council of Patron Ministers (CPM)
ENTEBBE, UGANDA: Following the 3rd ASARECA Council of Patron Ministers Meeting held in Nairobi, Kenya on February 15, 2024, which elected me as the ASARECA Council of Patron Ministers’ Chairman, I have today April 4, 2024 on behalf of my colleagues in the 15 Member States visited the ASARECA Secretariat in Entebbe Uganda.
The purpose of my visit is to fully appreciate the programming and operations of the Secretariat, hold discussions with the Secretariat on implementation of priorities of the Governments of the Member States, and familiarise myself with the challenges the Secretariat faces in delivering its mandate.
I wish to inform the Governments of the Member States that I have had fruitful engagement with the Secretariat during which the Secretariat presented to me proposals for the following four mega regional programmes put together by researchers from the National Agricultural Research Systems:
- Promoting Regional Centres of Excellence for Sustainable Agricultural Transformation in Eastern and Central Africa.
- Biofortification for Healthy, Inclusive and Resilient Food Systems in Eastern & Central Africa.
- Scaling Technologies to Reduce Aflatoxin Contamination and Enhance Food Safety in Maize, Groundnut and Cassava Value Chains in Eastern and Central Africa, and
- Fast-tracking Digital Transformation for Agricultural Development in Eastern and Central Africa.
During my interaction, I reconfirmed an earlier proposition discussed by the CPM to urgently mobilise resources from the Governments and Development Partners to finance this well-informed initiatives.
Going forward, I pledge commitment to ensure that my colleagues, the Ministers for Agriculture in the Member States and I, will immediately embark on:
- Mobilising Governments and Development Partners to establish a Regional Agricultural Innovation Fund to finance regional Priority Mega Projects, and
- Creating an enabling policy environment to increase productivity in the agricultural sector, enhance the resilience of the food systems, boost access to agricultural technologies, and improve intra and inter-national trade and market access.
I wish to thank the Government of Uganda for hosting me and call upon all citizens of the sub-region, the Private Sector and Development Partners to support this planned initiatives, which will take millions of our people from food and nutrition insecurity.
Hon. Franklin Mithika Linturi, EGH
Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Republic of Kenya
Chairman ASARECA Council of Patron Ministers (CPM)
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For further Information: (i) Dr. Enock Warinda +256 782147044 (Executive Director—ASARECA)
(ii) Dr. Denis Onkundi +254722312985 (Technical Advisor to the Minister