FOREWORD
I feel privileged to be associated with the Second Medium Term Plan (MTP, 2013-2017) of the Agricultural
Sector. The MTP outlines a broad road-map to be embraced by the entire sector in addressing the
medium-term objectives of the Vision 2030 Strategy.
Traditionally, the sector has played a crucial role in ensuring food security, job creation, income generation,
foreign exchange earnings and linkages with other sectors of the economy. However, for the country
to reap maximum benefits from the sector, the current subsistence level has to be fundamentally
transformed to modern commercial and competitive production and marketing.
In the last five years, strategies embraced under the First Medium Term Plan (MTP, 2008 – 2012) have
greatly improved fortunes in the sector with most subsectors getting into a sustained growth path.
Despite these efforts, the sector continues to face various challenges mostly as a result of unpredictable
weather patterns and recurrence of insecurity particularly in the ASALs. Some of the many challenges
facing the sector remain major threats to national economic progress.
It is important to note that about 80 percent of the country’s population live in the rural areas and derive
their livelihood from agriculture and related activities. The sector is therefore key in addressing poverty
and food insecurity challenges. These factors suggest that for any strategy to address poverty and food
insecurity successfully, it must embrace broad-based development of the agricultural sector and by
extension that of rural Kenya. It must therefore focus on activities aimed at improving crops, livestock
and fisheries to safeguard real farm incomes, and ensure availability and access to quality food. This
entails transformation of subsistence agriculture into commercial production through value-addition
while ensuring environmental conservation.
Such circumstances demand collective and concerted efforts to turn around the sector and with it the
overall national economy as envisioned in the Vision 2030 Strategy. Foremost, the sector must demand
a radical departure from over-reliance on rain-fed production to the embracement of irrigation in the
crops sub sector and the enactment of supportive regimes in the other sub-sectors. In this spirit of
Vision 2030 the private sector is expected to act as a catalyst for renewed growth while the government
will continue to provide the requisite enabling environment.
When fully implemented, the sector is confident that this MTP will undoubtedly propel the sector, the
national economy and livelihood of Kenyans to a higher sustainable path as envisioned in the Kenya
Vision 2030. Above all the country will have taken a great step in ensuring food security, employment
creation, higher incomes and poverty reduction.
Hon. Felix Koskey,
Cabinet Secretary-Ministry of Agriculture