Kenya Kwanza Alliance leader William Ruto and Azimio la Umoja Raila Odinga are in a competition on how to reduce the high cost of living as we approach the August 9 elections. According to experts the high cost of living among Kenyans is the key issue in the August 9 elections.
The two presidential candidates have noticed that Kenyans at the moment are struggling with the price of especially basic commodities like cooking oil, maize flour, milk and many others.
In their manifesto the two leaders outlined how they are going to curb this issue, with both of them promising an urgent review of the price of basic commodities in their first 100 days.
Azimio leader Odinga says that the country cannot manage to deal with high cost of living if the challenges facing the agricultural sector are not addressed within the shortest time possible hence he has promised goodies to farmers to increase production.
“The Azimio commitment will be to therefore transform the sector through the use of affordable Kenyan manufactured machinery, to be more efficient, improve productivity and create employment through harnessing youth demographic dividend,” he said.
“The sector however faces a number of challenges ranging from high cost of inputs, poor quality of agricultural inputs, dependency on rainfall, drought, inappropriate technology, outdated tools and equipment, fragmented agricultural land, negative attitude towards agriculture among the youth, poor infrastructure, poor storage, and limited access to credit for farmers,” he added. He also promised credit to farmers.
DP Ruto, on the other hand said that agriculture is the only fertile place to invest to create more jobs for the unemployed as well as reduce the high cost of living. He also said that growing the agriculture sector would in return increase the tax revenue.
“Agriculture offers the quickest payback period for investments. This is because, in many cases, there is no new capital investment required. Increasing production only requires addressing the cost, quality and access of inputs, animal feeds, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides among others and providing farmers with the working capital to buy adequate supply of the inputs,” said DP Ruto.
DP Ruto also added that abandoning the Big Four Agenda of President Kenyatta to focus on Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) is the main reason why the country has a high rate of inflation, stating that those quoting the war between Ukraine and Russia are just looking for excuses.
Dp Ruto stated that the country has to reduce importation of edibles such as oils, wheat and rice by assuring and empowering local farmers of ready market. He also added that increasing productivity in the agriculture sector is the only way to end the high cost of living among Kenyans. This will increase farmer’searnings per acre and an excess product in the market will lead to an immediate impact on the pricing to the consumer.”