The County Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) on various partnerships to spur economic growth.</>
Governor James Ongwae and JKUAT Deputy Vice Chancellor (Finance) Prof. Bernard Otoki Moirongo signed the documents in a ceremony witnessed by County Attorney Julius Opini.
In the collaborative arrangement, the County will partner with the university in mechanization of agriculture, revenue mobilization, urban development, market development, development of a science park, solid waste management, development of cottage industries and youth in agribusiness among others.
Speaking after the signing ceremony, Governor Ongwae said he was happy that the long discussions between the two parties had borne fruit saying the target was to leverage on Kisii County’s comparative economic advantages to spur growth.
“This signing is a culmination of broad formal discussions with JKUAT which is a premier institution of higher learning specializing in innovations in the areas of science and agriculture. We want to tap into their vast knowledge base to actualize our plans in a number of sectors,” said Ongwae.
He added; “The land sizes in Kisii are diminishing very fast. For this reason, we want to use modern technology and mechanize using small hand held tractors that can be used in our farms. We can also tap into the university’s business school to incubate young entrepreneurs because the youth are the future of this County”.
Ongwae said counties had now reached the threshold of borrowing and therefore it was possible to access credit to start small scale plants for value addition to crops like coffee, tea, bananas, pyrethrum and avocado.
Prof. Moirongo said JKUAT was keen to spur economic development through technology transfer. “The challenge now is to translate this MoU into a budget before we can operationalize it. Already, our university is partnering with Indian firms to produce hand held tractors and computers that are needed by County Governments,” he said.
