Kenya Announces Major Development Projects Totaling $3.3 Billion

The Kenyan government has approved a budget of about $ 3.3 billion to support food security and job creation projects across the country. 

A statement from the government today said the money would be for the implementation of 18 multi-purpose projects across the country over the next eight years, saying that the projects are expected to deal with some of the major challenges facing the country on a medium and long term basis. 

The projects, which will cover the six regional development authorities involve: irrigation of food and cash crops, hydro-electric power generation, supply of clean water, development of fisheries, water catchments conservation, creation of local employment and rural development, said the statement from government. 

Over 213,000 jobs are expected to be created from the project with a trickling factor and another 956,000 indirect jobs.

Kenya has had to declare a state of emergency following a series of long droughts in the last few years. In April, the World Bank provided an emergency grant of US $5 million under its Global Food Crisis Response Program to assist Kenya in dealing with significant food shortfalls due to the impact of the current drought in the country, high input prices and the global financial crisis.

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