June 3^rd 2019                        

By Cheruiyot Korir

The government is creating an e-market for farmers in the country to generate wealth and create employment.

Cabinet Secretary for ICT Mr. Joe Mucheru said, working with the Posta Kenya and the Universal Postal Union, the government would open up online shops for farmers to enable them access local and international markets for their produce.

Speaking while hosting a delegation from the World Food Program (WFP) in his office, Mr. Mucheru said, e-commerce agents will be used to help farmers who are not digitally skilled to access online markets.

The Cabinet Secretary said, the government also plans to facilitate farmers’ access to information on a wide range of services such as farm credit and input to enhance production for self-sufficiency in nutrition and income.

Ms. Annalisa Conte, WFP representative and Country Director, said the  organization is advancing an initiative to support evidence-based programming, monitoring and evaluation for national development programs in line with the United Nations’(UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Ms. Conte said, the organization in partnership with governments intend to get one million youth in Africa and across the globe into employment by closing the SDGs data gap and advancing digital literacy.

Mr. Stanlake Samkange, the WFP Senior director for Strategic Coordination and Support commended Kenya for being ahead of other countries in the world in advancement of digital infrastructure and innovations.

Mr. Samkange said the WFP would avail 700, 000 US Dollars, digital tablets, training and connectivity to the youth in attempt of having one million youth in Africa and across the globe on employment.

The official said, unemployment and under-employment among the youth globally was worrying and therefore the organization plans to resolve the challenge by having some the youth employed to collect data.