This archive report was first published on 7 July 2019.
On July 6, 2019, Deputy President William Ruto unveiled plans to establish a Sh30 million coffee milling plant in Kuria East, Migori County, to support local farmers and enhance the country's food security.
Speaking at Chinato Primary School, Ruto stated that the Ministry of Agriculture would fund the project with a grant of Sh15 million, while the remaining Sh15 million would be a loan to the four coffee cooperatives in the area through the Commodities Fund.
“The Government will support small and large scale farmers to boost the country’s food security. The support to the farmers is part of the Government’s agenda four and the funding is well catered for in the current budget,” Ruto said.
He also announced that over 50,000 coffee seedlings would be issued to farmers in the next planting season through the Intergrade Coffee Productivity Project.
Furthermore, Ruto pledged to donate Sh3 million personally to help settle the debt of the four coffee cooperatives, which stood at over Sh9.5 million, and promised to reschedule the remaining debt.
During the event, Ruto also commissioned the Sh2.8 billion Isebania- Ikerege- Kehancha-Ntimaru-Gwitembe- Ang’ata- Lolgorian road in Kuria West and urged locals to abandon retrogressive cultural practices such as early marriages, teenage pregnancies, and Female Genital Mutilation.
