Permanent Secretary for Livestock Harry Kimtai has urged the use of digital technologies to help farmers connect with the information, resources, and available markets successfully. The issue of climate change keeps growing severely affecting human health and agriculture; for food production in the global arena. These challenges keep piling up considering the lesser actions partaken of in resolving to solve the climate change crisis where Climate-smart agriculture is core.
In this Era of climate change, the PS says that a revolution in the agriculture sector to entail e-extension services will be essential for the farmer to do climate-smart agriculture. Noting that digital and artificial intelligence are some of the key technologies to assist solve this crisis at hand.
On this note, the PS assures that through smart agriculture there will be a mitigation of adverse effects as well as every Kenyan having a sustainable livelihood, safe food, and nutrition. Although for climate-smart agriculture to be attained, he called for funding of agricultural research if at all food insecurity is to be combated successfully, every farmer be accorded skills and knowledge to ensure the increase of yields.
“Our focus is to support the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) to be able to do more research, and release more products into the market, especially the latest varieties so that farmers can benefit from the research. This can only be done if we direct more funding to the national research organization,” the PS said.
A call that invites the private sector on board, as the KALRO director general Eliud Kireger emphasized that the common goal in research is on how to increase agricultural productivity and building of resilience to climate change risks. Climate-smart agriculture will save the situation faced effectively he believes.
“The environment research program ensures the integration of environmental issues into agricultural research. The importance of food security to the whole fabric of a society and nation cannot be understated. A food insecure nation cannot guarantee growth or development or the health of its citizens hence the need to revolutionize agriculture,” he said.
Revealing that most of the research has stressed crop production and increase of yields for the farmers, as KALRO delves into developing of new drought-resistant and high-yielding climate-smart technologies.
Whereas for the livestock, he stated that it majored in adaptation strategies to minimize impacts of climate change, emerging livestock diseases, vaccine development to manage the diseases, and pasture establishment.
“The main research has been evident in crops, livestock, and cross-cutting research programs like environment and natural resource management, socio-economics, and policy development,” Kireger said.
