Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani (JKP), an upcoming regional economic block comprising of the six counties at the Coast: Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Tana River, Lamu, and Taita-Taveta,last week.
held a 3-day consultative workshop dubbed ‘JKP Agriculture, Livestock & Fisheries Sector Consultative Workshop’ geared towards rebuilding agri-based livelihoods and industries in partnership with the private sector at the Coast.
In a bid to build private sector partnerships, JKP partnered with KCB Bank’s Retail Department (Agribusiness & SME program and MobiGrow program), a prospective partner. Mr. Dickson Naftali, Head of MobiGrow, and Mrs. Naomi Ndele, Head of SME & Agribusiness, represented KCB Bank on two panels dubbed: ‘Private Sector Partnerships’ and ‘Counties & Partnerships: Funding Agribusiness, Food & Nutrition Security’. As a result, CECs from the Coastal counties and development partners such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are keen on forming partnerships with KCB Bank’s MobiGrow programme.
“We are ready to sign MoUs with stakeholders willing to work with our farmers across the cashew nut, coconut, livestock, and fishery value chains and start rolling out,” said Mr. Emmanuel Nzai, Interim Secretary, JKP Secretariat.
JKP counties are currently working on validating their County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs) which are focused on building business cases for the fisheries, livestock and crop value chains hence looking for private sector partners to collaborate with. This workshop therefore served as a great opportunity for KCB Bank to showcase its agribusiness proposition and current support to the agriculture sector under MobiGrow and Agribusiness.
The workshop also had representation from County Government officials, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the European Union (EU), Safaricom’s Digifarm programme, USAID’s AHADI programme, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MoALF).