First Lady, Mama Racheal Ruto, has rolled out the Mama Kitchen Garden Initiative at Kisima Girls Secondary school in Samburu west sub county to enhance food security and nutrition in the Arid and Semi-Arid county.
Speaking after touring a model farm on Tuesday, the First Lady said that the Mama Kitchen Garden initiative which was launched in May, 2025 aims to improve food security and nutrition, promote sustainable agriculture and empower women and youth across the country.
She noted that the initiative is a measure to accelerate hunger eradication by encouraging households and schools to create kitchen gardens to grow their own food as well as teaching gardening techniques to build resilient communities that can better withstand food security.
“Here in Samburu county where climate change and food insecurity are felt so deeply, this program offers practical and locally adopted solutions that the community can adopt. Being in and ASAL county does ton mean you cannot feed your community or grow your own crops lets borrow a leaf from Norulem in Turkana county which has turned into a thriving agricultural hub,” Racheal said.
The First Lady also said that her office is working closely with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Agriculture to revive 4K clubs in schools to encourage students to embrace agriculture as a noble and innovative livelihood.
At the same time, she urged all women in Samburu county to create a kitchen garden in order to improve nutrition at the household level.
On his part, Agriculture Principal Secretary (PS), Dr Paul Rono, said that the government is keen on improving the livestock value chain and Samburu county is set to benefit from the near complete multimillion shilling export abattoir that will boost the regions meat industry.
“Most farmers in Samburu county keep livestock for meat production and with the completion of Isiolo abattoir, there will be a ready market for Samburu livestock,” he said.
Accompanying the First Lady was Samburu County Commissioner, John Cheruiyot, Samburu Governor Lati Lelelit, Samburu Senator Steve Lelegwe, Samburu Woman Representative Pauline Lenguris and Samburu East MP Jackson Lekumontare.
by Robert Githu
