Charlene Ruto revealed that she co-owned a two-acre farm in Muranga County with the county’s Deputy Governor Stephen Munania.
In a statement dated Tuesday, February 21, Charlene, the daughter of President William Ruto, indicated that the farm was a demonstration project for coffee farmers in the area.
She added that the project also aimed at encouraging the youth to engage in agriculture – in particular coffee farming.
Apart from the coffee plantation on the farm, the first daughter also has trees planted on the farm in line with the government’s initiatives in addressing climate change.
She indicated that the team aimed at planting more trees once the long rains begin in March.
“I spent the weekend in Murang’a County visiting the 2-acre demonstration coffee farm I have with Deputy Governor Stephen Munania.
“We planted a tree to mark the beginning of this partnership as we continue combating climate change. We want the youth to develop different innovations within the coffee value chain,” she wrote.
Further, Charlene detailed that they also partnered with various coffee agencies to educate the community on value addition to the crop widely grown in the region.
The first daughter indicated that other farms would also benefit from the partnership with the various coffee agencies.
“The program we have crafted is looking at first establishing youth-led farms at the factory level. Each coffee factory in Murang’a has access to a few acres of land and by using that land with the three youth in the factory, it will serve as employment.
“We have development partners who have agreed to support the youths if they wish to lease lands for coffee farming,” she stated.
On his part, the Deputy Governor explained that the duo sought to add more farms to the 2-acre farm.
“We visited Mariira Farm in Kigumo where we also have another acre that is set aside to be used by our farmers in deepening their Coffee farming skills,” he stated.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE