Counties Urged to Spearhead Agricultural Production to Operationalize CAIPs
By Sylvester Ronoh | Kass Digital
Counties have been urged to take the lead in agricultural production and value addition to ensure the successful implementation of the County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPs) being established across the country.
Speaking during the official opening of the National Technical Implementation Committee meeting on CAIPs at the Kenya Industrial Training Institute (KITI) in Nakuru, Industrialization Principal Secretary Dr. Juma Mukhwana said the government is investing KSh25 billion over five years to support counties in setting up common user facilities for value addition and processing.
Dr. Mukhwana noted that construction of CAIPs is ongoing in 13 counties and is 80 percent complete. These counties include Bungoma, Kirinyaga, Embu, Machakos, Garissa, Kwale, Kisii, Migori, Homa Bay, Busia, Uasin Gishu, and Meru. An additional 15 counties are earmarked for the second phase starting this financial year.
“It is not enough to construct a CAIP turn this into production. We have factories and manufacturing plants sitting idle in many counties that need to be utilized for economic viability,” said Dr. Mukhwana.
He urged counties to partner with the private sector to attract investment in the parks, emphasizing the importance of county investment forums as platforms to market available spaces to potential manufacturers.
