State’s efforts in empowering Kenyan farmer commendable

Empowerment is about giving people the power to take their fate into their own hands. It is about dispersing the tools so that we can get a bit closer to equality of opportunities. We all are capable, and in some form responsible, for empowering our kin. But society at large has the same role to play, which is why it so important that there are the social initiatives helping women to set up their own businesses, or villages to become energy independent.

Yet, there is another important actor, who is crucial in setting the course for the empowering of many different and challenged groups comprising modern Kenya: The government. It has a vast toolbox at its disposal, ranging from tax policy, passing by the educational curriculum and all the way to budget allocation. Through a mix of incentivising and nudging, the national as well as local governments can ensure that all of Kenya’s population will enjoy the fruits of the constant macro-economic growth we are experiencing. It should be noted that the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has just increased the growth of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) it expects in 2020 to over 6 per cent!

This is the result of the sound and thorough economic policy that the government has been pushing quietly but steadily since President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election in 2017. The head of an organisation is always crucial for its success, and Uhuru and his government are no different. He paves the way so that the Kenyan economy has the optimal conditions for growth, using local as well international “fertiliser”.

In our globalised world, it isn’t enough to have a strong local economy. In order to truly prosper, we have to use our local advantages and trade them with the world for hard, foreign currency. But nobody wants to trade with an international outcast without friends or influence on the international stage – just take a look at our poor brothers in Zimbabwe, who have been withering away ever since the West imposed economic sanctions on its government.

That’s why Uhuru’s diplomatic magic is so important. No matter where he goes in the world, doors and red carpets await him. This translates directly into trade relations which present many tremendous opportunities for the wananchi back at home.

While this sounds like merely a lofty theory, everyone can see the effects on the ground. All it takes is to pass through Murang’a on any given day. Aptly named “the home of avocados”, a certain slumber had befallen the city. The reason was simple – the area is so fertile and conditions so perfect for the growth of avocado that we produced more than we could possibly consume. Only ten years ago, researchers estimated that half of the avocados we produced went to waste and were thrown away.

But in April of 2019, Uhuru signed a deal to export the delicious green fruit to China, becoming the only African nation to provide the economic powerhouse with this staple of the Asian cuisine.

Local government did its part, too. By the end of 2019, the Nakuru government acted in order to ensure a maximal profit for their population by distributing over 113,000 avocado seedlings to over 6,200 farmers. Once it has reached full maturity, and if properly cared for, a single avocado tree can bear a thousand fruits per year. The benefits to be reaped from this kind of trade are immense. The coordinated and forward-thinking actions by different players all along the chain, from the national government to the individual farmer, will ensure that this opportunity doesn’t go to waste.

When all the independent players such as local governments, businessmen and farmers reach out and grab the opportunity, the possibilities are endless. We have it in our hand to change the reality we live in for the better. Let’s become the President's partners in doing so.