The Kenya Kwanza Administration’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) continues to make significant strides in uplifting small-scale entrepreneurs across the country, from Mama Mboga and Boda Boda operators to hawkers and rural farmers.
Central to this transformative agenda is the construction of 400 modern markets in various stages of completion across all 290 constituencies.
According to Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, these markets are designed to provide traders with decent, secure, and conducive spaces to conduct business.
“Each facility will include cold storage units to help reduce post-harvest losses and ensure better farm-gate prices for perishable produce” Kindiki said while touring Kirinyaga county.
In the agricultural sector, bold and targeted reforms are paying off. For the first time in 35 years, coffee prices have surged to between KSh120 and KSh148 per kilogram of cherry, a significant leap from last season’s KSh60 to KSh80.
Tea prices have also recorded notable gains.
The government attributes this turnaround to the radical policy and administrative interventions implemented over the past two years.
“These include the streamlining of the fertilizer subsidy programme and the passage of new laws to reform the coffee and cooperative sectors. The measures aim to eliminate entrenched cartels that have long controlled coffee milling, brokerage, and marketing” the DP said.
In Kirinyaga County, coffee farmers are already reaping the benefits of these reforms, with improved earnings and more transparent value chains.
The County is among key coffee-growing regions witnessing renewed hope and economic revitalization.
These developments were highlighted during the Kirinyaga Central Economic Empowerment Programme, where over 6,000 women from 40 women groups were recognized for their contribution to community development.
DP Kindiki during tour of Kirinyaga County.
The event was graced by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, area MP Gachoki Gitari, Mwea MP Mary Maingi, Kirinyaga County Assembly Speaker Muteti Murimi, and other local leaders.
The leaders reaffirmed the government’s commitment to inclusive economic growth, anchored on empowering grassroots entrepreneurs and farmers to actively participate in the country’s socio-economic development.
