Government Launches The National Irrigation Services Strategy For Guiding Irrigation Development In Kenya
Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome while launching the national irrigation services strategy for guiding irrigation development in the country.
By Our Correspondent
Worth Noting:
- The launch also brought together a wide range of irrigation sector players who included AGRA, development partners, the private sector, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Council of Governors (CoG) and Counties.
- Speaking during the launch at Sarova Panafric Hotel in Nairobi, the CS said the preparation of the strategy involved a consultative process with various stakeholders in the sector, who included development partners, sector Ministries and Departments, County Governments, the Private sector and Irrigation farmers who provided useful views, inputs and comments.
- She thanked all the stakeholders for their participation and inputting into the strategy.
The Cabinet Secretary for Water, Sanitation and Irrigation Alice Wahome has launched the National Irrigation Services Strategy (NISS) Strategy.
This is a key policy implementation instrument in guiding irrigation development and management in Kenya.
During the ceremony on Thursday, the CS was accompanied by among others, her counterpart for EAC, ASAL and Regional Development Rebecca Miano and the Principal Secretaries; State Department for Irrigation Mr Gitonga Mugambi, State Department for Water and Sanitation Dr Paul Ronoh and State Department for Crop Development, PS Philip Kello Harsama.
She expressed her gratitude to the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) for providing financial support and the Inter-Ministerial task team which included technical officers in the State Department for Irrigation and the State Department for Crop Development in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development for the job well done in preparing this strategy.
The launch also brought together a wide range of irrigation sector players who included AGRA, development partners, the private sector, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Council of Governors (CoG) and Counties.
Speaking during the launch at Sarova Panafric Hotel in Nairobi, the CS said the preparation of the strategy involved a consultative process with various stakeholders in the sector, who included development partners, sector Ministries and Departments, County Governments, the Private sector and Irrigation farmers who provided useful views, inputs and comments.
She thanked all the stakeholders for their participation and inputting into the strategy.
She voiced her concern on the challenges facing the country in terms of food security due to perennial drought as result of climate change underscoring the place of Irrigation in offering the best intervention towards addressing these challenges to feed the nation.
The CS said the proposed interventions in the strategy aim to address the challenges facing the sector and unlock the potential for irrigation to contribute to the National food security and socio-economic development of the country
She noted that Kenya has an irrigation potential of 1.9 million acres (without water storage) or 3.0 million acres with water storage adding that to date, 670,000 acres have been put under irrigation through initiatives by the Ministry together with Development Partners and other stakeholders and pointed out that this leaves a lot of irrigation potential unexploited and intensified efforts were required by all actors to close the gap.
‘‘In the last five years the State Department for Irrigation (SDI) in collaboration with development partners
and other stakeholders has made achievements in addressing the policy, legal and institutional setup for catalyzing irrigation development,’’ She said.
These include; development of the National Irrigation Policy, 2017; enactment of the Irrigation Act, No.14 of 2019; preparation of Irrigation (General) Regulations 2021; development of the National Irrigation Services Strategy 2022-2026; and preparation of Guidelines for Promotion, Development and Management of Irrigation in Kenya. These instruments have detailed provisions and mechanisms for addressing all aspects of irrigation development and management.
The CS said the formulation of the National Irrigation Services Strategy (NISS) is a significant step towards demand-responsive investments to sustainably exploit the untapped potential by expanding and intensifying irrigated agriculture.
The strategy aims at actualizing the aspirations of the National Irrigation Policy. It identifies the key constraints to irrigation development and management, while also defining strategic interventions to address them.
The key interventions include: expanding irrigation infrastructure; irrigation water resource development; technical and institute.
Similar Posts by The Mt Kenya Times:
- Mugo steers Kenya dairy sector towards quality-based payments
- Mt Kenya Times ePAPER June 27-28, 2026
- Dembélé’s 32-minute hat-trick fires France past Norway to top Group I
- Senegal dismantle ten-man Iraq with five-star Toronto statement
- Leading with purpose: How Rebecca Miano’s vision transformed KenGen and cemented her legacy
About the Author
