Laikipia County minister holds meeting with Ol-Moran stakeholders

By Bob Aston

The Laikipia County Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries development, Hon Duncan Mwariri together with four (4) chief county officers on November 6, 2014 attended a stakeholders meeting at Ng’arua Maarifa Centre, Laikipia West.

Hon Mwariri addressing the stakeholders

The county chief’s officers present represented the following county ministries; County Treasury and Economic Planning, Water, Environment and Natural Resources Management, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise Development and Education, gender, youth, sports and ICT. Also present was the County administration, public service and security officer and Ol-Moran Ward administrator.

The stakeholders meeting enabled the County Minister to learn the various challenges faced by people from Ol-Moran ward and how such problems can be prioritized.

Speaking during the meeting, Hon Mwariri said that the County government is keen on ensuring there is food security in the county. He urged farmers to work closely with extension officers in order to adopt best farming practices.

He urged farmers to diversify to fruit farming in order to ensure continuous farming even during drought.  Responding to stakeholders concern about difficulty in accessing subsidized government fertilizer, Hon Mwariri said that the county government will ensure that they transport the subsidized government fertilizer for farmers free of charge. He said that this could only be possible when farmers join groups.

He urged farmers to increase volume of their produce and also bulk produce in order to enjoy economies of scale.

“There are various enterprise funds that have been set up to assist farmers. Farmers can only benefit from such funds when they form groups,” said Hon Mwariri.

Stakeholders following proceedings during the meeting

He stressed on the importance of public-private partnership in stimulating development. He assured the stakeholders that their grievances would be addressed by the various county ministries.

Leaders gave an overview of some of the challenges faced in the ward. Some of the issues raised included; difficulty in accessing government subsidized fertilizer, frequent power failures, poor drainage facilities, scarcity of water, lack of waste disposal facilities, poor road network particularly from Kinamba to Sipili and lack of a sewerage system.

The stakeholders’ meeting was held after a field visit whereby the county Minister and the chief officers visited various projects in the ward. The projects visited included; Sipili Health Centre, Sipili Polytechnic, Sipili Cereal Bank, fruit farm and stock theft unit (STU) camp in Wangwachi.

After the stakeholders meeting Hon Mwariri and the chief officers travelled to Ol-Moran to visit Ol-Moran Cereal Bank, Ol-Moran Polytechnic, cattle dip, Ol-Moran sales yard, Ol-Moran Health Centre and a dairy farmer. They concluded their visit with another stakeholders meeting at Red Cross Hall in Ol-Moran.