Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, on Thursday called for unity in the war against terrorism and urged the country’s soldiers to deal with emerging security challenges in the country.
Kenyatta said this when he presided over the passing out parade of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) recruits in Eldoret in northwest Kenya.
The president urged every Kenyan to work together with the country’s security formations to defeat terrorism, radicalisation and violent extremism.
“We have already anticipated the forces of terrorism, radicalisation and violent extremism and indeed we have met them in the field, it remains only to defeat them and secure Kenya and our boarders,” he said.
Kenyatta cited terrorism, radicalisation and violent extremism as some of the security threats that Kenya Defence Forces has to protect Kenya against.
“That is why our Kenya Defence Forces will continue its operations in AMISOM,” he said and lauded efforts by the military to modernise its operations including training to effectively deal with emerging security challenges.
Also, Kenya’s agriculture ministry said on Thursday it had embarked on data collection on farming to improve agricultural productivity in the country.
Mwangi Kiunjuri, Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation, said the move had been necessitated due to lack of proper data on the agricultural sector.
“We have started registering farmers countrywide so that we may know their exact number and acreage of land that they own,” Kiunjuri said during a sorghum forum in Nairobi.
The data is expected to help inform on soil fertility levels in all parts of the country and offer information to farmers on what fertilisers to use and what seeds to plant, Kiunjuri said.
“The data will help us know the root cause of problems that has led to low performance of the agricultural sector,” he added.
Kiunjuri said the data, which would be used to spur growth of the sector, will be unveiled and disseminated to farmers in the middle of 2019.
The government has formed a cereal enhancement programme to look at the quality of seeds, introduce drought-tolerant and early-maturing seed varieties, he said.
Kiunjuri noted that the government is considering introducing contract farming in the country to save farmers from suffering food wastes.
“We are working on blending of maize, sorghum and cassava flour in one packet to help reduce over-reliance on maize and help reduce malnutrition in the country,” he added. (Xinhua/NAN)
