Food production could improve after President William Ruto signed into law the supplementary budget, which includes an increased budget for subsidised fertiliser.
Infrastructure heavy departments such as roads, energy, and housing all saw their budgets revised downwards while service departments like education, crop production and health saw their budgets revised upwards. With the shifting global economy and a weakening shilling, KSh145 Billion will be used in the repayment of interests for domestic and foreign loans.
- In the Supplementary Appropriation (No.3), KSh 8.25 Billion has been added to the purchase of fertilisers.
- To tame losses and ensure stability of maize prices in the country, KSh 2.1 Billion has been apportioned to the post-harvest management.
- This includes acquisition of dryers, bulk storage facilities and purchase of excess maize from farmers to cushion them against price fluctuations. The government has said it will buy the produce from farmers at KSh4,000 per 90-kilogramme bag.
An additional KSh1.7 billion has been set aside for the ongoing sugar reforms, including the payment of farmers’ arrears and the improvement of sucrose levels, and Kshs. 4 billion for the coffee sector’s revitalisation.
According to Majority Leader Kimani Ichungw’ah, KSh400 million has been allocated to New KCC for mopping up excess milk during this rainy season. “This will ensure that our farmers do not suffer from losses occasioned by increased supplies of milk in the market,” he said.
Education Budget Receives a Boost
Moreover, KSh 65 Billion has been added to the education budget including KSh 5.4 billion more for Junior Secondary School capitation and KSh 3.4 Billion more to improve infrastructure in the institutions. The budget boost also includes KSh25 billion to cater for higher education scholarships and loans.
So as to check the rising number of non-school going children in Nairobi, KSh 1 Billion has been allocated to the City County to build extra classrooms in the city’s 17 constituences.
“We want all children to go to school; Nairobi has a big number of school-going children who are not accessing education,” said the Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairperson Ndindi Nyoro.
