By Governors Press Service
Kwale County Governor Fatuma Achani on Wednesday officially flagged off the distribution of 5000 coconut seedlings across the county in an effort to curb the dwindling number of coconut production within the county.
Speaking during the flagging off ceremony held at the county headquarters,Kwale, Governor Achani decried the dwindling number of coconut trees leading to low production.
This has majorly been caused by the felling of coconut trees for timber and disinterest from farmers to grow the plant.
Aiming to counter this, the Governor said that the county government will distribute 5000 seedlings within the 20 wards in Kwale.
First beneficiaries were residents of tsimba golini ward with each farmer receiving 5 seedlings each.
The Governor stressed that there were numerous investors interested in coconut products in the county but coconut farming was not up to par with the demand.
“There are investors who want to invest fully in the production of coconut products but coconut farming at the moment has gone down.Right now we as the county government are working to ensure that the variety of coconut planted is the best” Achani Said.
She assured farmers that this was not a one time thing but just the beginning.
“In the coming budget next year, we will ensure we procure the hybrid seedlings from India,”She said assuring farmers that the government was working to get the best variety of coconut trees in the market.
Residents of Tsimba golini ward led by Athman Mohamed praised the Governor for taking the initiative of providing them with seedlings just as the heavy rains are upon us.
He encouraged his fellow farmers to take advantage of this opportunity and lift the production back to its glory days.
Area MCA Omar Mwaboza was critical of people who were involved in cutting down coconut trees.
This has led to the reduced number of coconut trees in the region.
“Coconut trees are cut for timber everyday. They started with saying these trees we are cutting are old, they don’t produce coconuts anymore but today you see even young coconut trees with their coconuts being cut down.” He lamented.
He added that back in the day coconut trees were a source of livelihood for a lot of families within the region but due to negligence this was not the case anymore.
He urged the farmers to prepare themselves adequately because investors such as Kentaste were looking for produce.
