Last year on September 25th(2020), Governor Kiraitu Murungi signed an MoU with Kenya Climate Innovation Center (KCIC) aimed at accelerating the engagement of women and youth in agribusiness activities through the AgriBiz programme. The project aimed to engage women and youth in Meru in various agribusiness community-based self-help groups, agri SMEs as well as start-ups, where they would receive support in financing through grants and results-based funding for their businesses in high value crops such as tea, miraa, coffee, macadamia, vegetables and other staple crops for local market and export.

Pursuant to that MoU, Deputy Governor Titus Ntuchiu today held a consultative meeting with a team from KCIC together with partners from European Union (EU) and the Danish International Development Agency(DANIDA) who visited the County Government to discuss on the program and the gains made so far. The team was led by KCIC CEO Dr. Edward Mungai and Sandra Sichlau, the First Secretary for Green Growth and Employment at DANIDA.

Over 100 farmers (youth and women) from across Meru have been recruited into the program and 22 of them have already received Sh26 million to grow their agribusiness ventures. Meru County is among 8 counties out of 47 where the program’s Innovation Hub has been established to serve other counties and under the direction of the Governor, the County Department of Environment’s Minister Prof. Karwitha Kiugu has been engaging extensively with the partners to ensure Meru people achieve maximum benefits from the project.

The DG announced that Departments of Youth Affairs; Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries; and Cooperatives will also be coopted to ensure smooth implementation of the program since KCIC has already established an office in Meru and dispatched a regional manager for the project, together with other officers. The program runs from the next five years.
#ImprovingAgriculture
#TransformingMeru
#MakingMeruGreat