billion. It is projected that the savings will reach Kshs.700 billion mark with the registration of Saccos for
Kenyans in the diaspora. The department last year registered two such Saccos in the
United States of
America
and the United Kingdom. We are also targeting to register more Saccos in countries with high
concentration of Kenyans. This initiative will assist Kenyans in the Diaspora to make structured
remittances and facilitate investment at home.
In understanding the role the movement plays in delivery of vision 2030, the Saccos mobilize savings,
finance economic activities and bring together people hence meeting all aspects of the economic, social
and political pillars under vision 2030.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The core mandate of the ministry of Industrialization and Enterprise Development that is incharge of Co-
operatives is to promote the growth and development of the
Co-operative Movement
in all sectors of the
economy. It is gratifying to note that the co-operative philosophy has been inculcated in virtually all
economic and social enterprises countrywide.
In conformity to the requirements of the constitution, my ministry has already posted County Co-
operative Commissioners and County Co-operative Directors of Audit to all the 47 counties. I urge co-
operative leaders to engage these officers in the revitalization of County
Co-operative unions
to play the
vital role in farm input supplies and distribution. This will make farmers enjoy the economies of scale
while at the same time ensuring availability of inputs on time and stabilizing prices. Besides these efforts,
we have also registered the Kenya Farmers Co-operative union whose main agenda is to support farmers
through the supply of affordable farm inputs such as fertilizers and animal feeds.
The Ministry has also promoted the formation of County co-operative Development Committees to
coordinate the cooperative agenda in the various Counties.
Distinguished Guests
Value addition to agricultural produce has been prioritized by the Government in
Vision 2030
. The future
of our agricultural co-operatives lies in aggressively undertaking value addition of various produce
including coffee, tea. Cotton, pyrethrum, horticultural crops, livestock and fisheries.
It is no longer feasible to continue marketing our produce in their raw form as has been the case over the
years. The success in value addition has been more pronounced in the dairy sector where dairy co-
operatives like Githunguri have increased returns to farmers more than ten-fold. Value addition therefore
remains the best option for enhanced service delivery to our farmers and overall success of the
agricultural co-operatives.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The Co-operative Development Policy explores measures aimed at empowering young people to rise from
unemployment to entrepreneurship and enterprise development. To achieve this, we aim to empower the
youth especially through promotion of youth cooperatives, capacity building and financing of projects
managed by youth. The government offers financial support to these projects through the Youth Enterprise
