Kirinyaga County is ready for a major
economic turnaround after Kerugoya Kutus Municipality qualifies for a Ksh. 400
million donor funding to establish a rice husks factory.
municipalities that will benefit from the British Government funded Sustainable
Urban Economic Development program (SUED).
to assess the needs and preparedness of the municipality to undertake the
project, Kirinyaga County Executive Committee member for Lands, Housing and
Urban Development, Samuel Kanjobe, said the rice husks factory will be a
milestone achievement that will see the county greatly benefit from the rice
byproduct.
selected by SUED among 11 other municipalities out of 59 in Kenya after writing
a proposal for funding of the project. He noted that the county settled on rice husks
factory as a way of conserving the environment and the forest cover since the
boards made out of rice husks will be used to make furniture instead of wood.
economy since the rice husk value chain will create employment while the youth
will also benefit since the project will partner with the Technical Institutes
and Vocational Education and Training centers (TIVETS).
supply of raw materials for the husks factory since the county produces 200,000
metric tons of husks annually. Kirinyaga has the largest rice irrigation scheme
(Mwea) which produces 80 percent of all the rice grown in Kenya. Kanjobe noted
that the rice byproduct is also expected to go up after the completion of Thiba
Dam which will expand the acreage of rice plantation from the current 26,000
acres to 34,000 acres.
Daniel Kimweya, said that the needs assessment was meant to establish the level
of preparedness for the municipality to undertake the project. He said that the
donor will formulate capacity building responses which will include training among
various stakeholders in case where gaps are identified.
the municipality, the county government, the business community, representatives
of Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry among others.
environmental degradation and unemployment, the husks project will place the
County as an industrial hub that will make it attractive to other investors.
capacity at municipality level to plan better for urbanization, improve rural
links with larger markets that were previously difficult to access.
support to enhance capacity for planning, investment, value chain and municipal
management.
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