Raila appeals to India's
PM Modi over Green grams
India, July 3, 2018
 |
| Indian Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi with Mr Odinga and his wife Ida |
FORMER Prime Minister Raila Odinga
today pitched the case for India to import green grams from Kenya. Speaking during a meeting with Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Mr Odinga urged the Prime Minister
fo India to consider importing at least 100,000 metric tonnes of Ndengu from
Kenya annually to save Kenyan farmers who had grown the cereal targeting
exporting it to India.
Mr Odinga spoke as Kitui county
continued to endure falling prices of Ndengu due to a bumper harvest, thanks to
the Ndengu Revolution launched by Kitui Governor Kaluki Ngilu.
This also comes as Kitui, Makueni,
Meru and Tharaka Nithi counties joined hands with ICRISAT to find an
intervention to stabilize the Ndengu prices in the face of the glut and also lobby
the national government to step in and save Ndengu farmers from exploitation.
The appeal by Mr Odinga follows another
made by Mrs Ngilu during the International Pulses Conference in India last February
as she explored markets for Kitui green grams.
Governor Ngilu launched the Ndengu Revolution
as a double pronged inventiveness to warranty food security and create incomes
for Kitui people in line with her five pillar manifesto that saw her sweep into
office in the August 2017 general elections.
The manifesto promises the county
Food and Water, Healthcare, Education and Youth Development, Women Empowerment
and Wealth Creation.
During the talks in India today, the
two leaders agreed on the need for Kenya and India to explore joint initiatives
in maritime transport on the Indian Ocean and Lake Victoria.
They also agreed on the need for
greater cooperation between Kenya and India in the field of Space Technology and
Agriculture.
Mr. Odinga and Prime Minister Modi
also agreed that India will support Kenya to host the Blue Energy conference in
Nairobi in September 2018.
Prime Minister Modi lauded the
working relationship between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Odinga as a
positive example for Africa and the world of a leadership that unites rather
than divides a nation. He promised to strengthen existing Kenya-India ties.
Mr. Odinga, who conveyed a message of
goodwill from President Uhuru Kenyatta to Prime Minister Modi, was accompanied
by Kenya’s High Commissioner to India Ms. Florence Weche, her deputy Belinda
Omino, Deputy Governor of Kisumu County Mr. Mathews Owili and wife Ida.
