By Kelvin Sang, Eldoret
ASK, an acronym for Agricultural Society of Kenya, has launched a strategic plan from 2025-2029 to project agricultural excellence and transformational growth in the agriculture sector.
This remarkable initiative was attended by government and industry leaders, including Dr Kiprono Rono; who attended the event as a principal secretary of agriculture.
He spoke and applauded the structure of having an actionable strategic plan as it brings order and advancement in the agricultural sector.
Dr Rono noted that having an action plan is strategic in dealing with sectorial challenges. He pointed out that strategic plans helps in aligning with government policies like, the country’s agricultural transformation vision, climate change impact, and the proposed bottom-up economics model.
“In every sector, there comes a time when order is paramount, and implementing strategic plans is essential in restoring sanity to every sector – and that is what ASK has done. They are now able to navigate the agricultural sector with a guiding compass courtesy of this strategic plan,” Dr Rono, stated.
Once again, the Principal Secretary asserted that the government shall continue to pursue strategies that create the required enabling environment for policy choices, execution, and capacity building to ensure that the objectives of the Strategic Plan are fully achieved.
He also offered his appreciation for the contribution of all the stakeholders in the development of the plan and recognized the painstaking stages and consultations that go into the crafting of a document which covers the needs and wants of the sector as a whole.
To achieve ASK Agricultural Society vision of establishing ASK as an International Agricultural and Trade Forum and a dynamic driver of sector development, THE ASK Agricultural Society has positioned The Society under a bold Strategic Plan. The Society’s mission focuses on three key pillars: Achieving Food Security through climate-sensitive agriculture, Creating Employment Opportunities through agribusiness development among the youth and women in agriculture, Promoting Economic Development through the value addition and international trade activities.
This reviewed strategic plan is in line with the vision of the national government for agricultural modernization and development, in which the plan aims to address the sustainable growth of the agricultural sector as well as the economy.
During the event, Ms Annabel Kiriinya, the National Chairperson of ASK showed a lot of positive energy. In her remarks, she expressed that “This is a joint effort on our side. With this plan, we are making agriculture the backbone of our economy and we want to be the agricultural and trade partner of choice.
While launching this strategic plan, we encourage everyone to work with us to fully harness the agricultural sector not only in Kenya but worldwide.” ASK stakeholders and members undertook to the strategic plan’s processes but also to the new path ASK is embarking on.
With international and government aid, the industry is positioned to take advantage of the support and prescribe methods to the most critical issues it faces.
The Society’s wide ranging responsibilities and expectations constitute a challenge as ASK moves to execute the Strategic Plan for the period 2025-2029. There is hope that the agricultural industry is at a stage where it can act to encourage innovation and achieve sustainable economic development in the foreseeable future.
