Govt to roll out e-wallet services for farmers - KBC

The government plans to roll out an e-wallet scheme across the country for farmers to equip themselves with relevant IT skills as well as access government subsidies.

Agriculture Principal Secretary Hamas Boga says this has been necessitated by the need to encourage the youth to venture into agriculture as a succession plan for the aging farming population.

Currently, the average age of a Kenyan farmer is 65 years with the aging population presenting a challenge in agricultural production.

To mitigate against this, the government is encouraging the youth to venture into agriculture as the sector becomes more mechanized and technology driven to boost production.

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PS Boga says the government will soon digitize all extension and subsidies services in a bid to curb malparctices.

Automation is expected to encourage financial institutions to increase credit to agriculture and encourage more agricultural innovations to increase production.

The World Bank has rolled out a programme to digitally register over 1 million farmers in the country who would be offered information about farming and markets.

 

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