By Agatha Ngotho. June 21, 2017. The Star
In Kenya, the state plans to introduce a land lease model to make it easy for the youth to lease land.
Agriculture Minister Willy Bett said the government will spend Sh340 million to enhance access and sustainable use of land for the youth in agribusiness. This, he added, will help increase youth access and sustainable use of land to attain high productivity.
“Our strategic intervention is to co-create and implement in partnership with county governments and other stakeholders alternative unique land lease models. Promote innovative farming practices that optimise land use and support the development and implementation of policy initiatives that review land use and encourage agricultural land consolidation,” Bett said.
He spoke during the launch of the Kenya Youth Agribusiness Strategy 2017-21 at the first National Youth Conference in Agribusiness in Nairobi.
The Agriculture Minister added that enhancing land access is likely to boost agricultural productivity and value chain players should focus on adopting efficient land use policy for agribusiness enterprises.
The land lease approach will be implemented through partnership with county governments, the National Land Commission, private land owners and community elders.
Timothy Njagi, a senior research fellow with Tegemeo Institute, said leasing of land has been part of contributing factors to high cost of production leading to low profits to farmers. “Land rent in Kenya averages Sh10,000 per acre for the last decade for large and small-scale farmers. This has led to the high cost of production, leading to low investment from the farmers,” he said.
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