Agricultural Strategic plan - Kilimo

esources and environmentalmanagement promoted6 Market efficiency improvedso as to encourage privatesector participation.7 Enabling environment foreffective implementation ofagriculture and relatedactivities created.forestry, plantation and farm forestry has caused serious effects inthe conservation of natural resources. Many human activitiesdestruct the natural habitats for aquatic and terrestrial species.Therefore, there is a need to promote sustainable management ofenvironmental and natural resources.The current marketing system for agriculture inputs and produce islargely disorganised and there is no formal felieer (commoditychain). This situation offers disincentive for serious private sectorinvestment in production and marketing of agriculture produce andinputs.In order for agricultural development to take place creation of anenabling environment is important to increase the participation ofsmall holder farmers, fishers as well as encouraging large scaleactivities and investment in agriculture by the private sector. Thiswill require that MALE review outdated policies and legislationswith the aim of providing favourable environment for effectiveimplementation of agriculture and related activities.8 Cooperators and RuralCommunitiesOrganizationsBased(CBOs)empowered to participatefully in productionactivities9 The individual, householdand national food andnutrition security attained,10 The mainstreaming ofcrosscuttingissuesparticularly HIV/AIDS andgender issues into theMALE’sintensifiedfunctionsThe agricultural and fisheries provides most prevailing of the CBO’sin rural areas where the farming and fishing activities are thedominants production activities, therefore if adequately capacitatedCBO’s can play important role in mobilisation of communityparticipation in production and conservation of natural resource intheir respective areas. Apart from being the main source ofemployment creation cooperatives can act as a forum for enhancingwomen participation, formulation and implementation of agriculturalrelated activities.Low productivity is among the basic causes of high incidence ofchronic under nutrition and food insecurity. Slow gains inproductivity usually lead to insufficient surpluses from domesticproduction to meet the needs of growing population. Therefore, anincrease in volumes of food and commercial crops, fish andlivestock products is important to enable the agricultural sector tocontribute ensuring food and nutrition security.Women contribute 60 to 80 percent of labour in agriculturalproduction and contribute the largest proportion of the labour inreproductive household activities. Typically, women work longerhours than men. This contributes to their poorer health andnutritional status. Men, who are traditionally considered heads ofhouseholds, have greater access to land, credit and extensionservices. In light of the above, interventions for agriculturaldevelopment are likely to affect men and women differently. Aneffective gender approach in designing and implementinginterventions in agriculture will need to take these differences intoconsideration.HIV/AIDS and Malaria are major health problems that have severe17