Agriculture Sector Strategic Plan 2015/16-2019/20.

The Agriculture Sector Strategic Plan is a strategic instrument, relating to the period 2015-2020, whose overall objective is to transform the sector from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture. The envisaged transformation will help create employment opportunities, especially for the young and for women, and increase household incomes, while ensuring household food security along the entire commodity value chain. The overall development and growth of the sector is anchored on four strategic objectives or priorities: 1) To increase production and productivity of agricultural commodities and enterprises; 2) To increase access to critical farm inputs; 3) To improve access to markets and value addition and strengthen the quality of agricultural commodities; and 4) To strengthen the agricultural services institutions and the enabling environment.
The document seeks to make agriculture more productive and sustainable. Moreover it enables more inclusive and efficient agricultural systems. To this regard, Priority 1 regards increasing agricultural production and productivity. Strategic interventions are outlined to implement a single spine agricultural extension system while promoting gendered innovation in agricultural research centres and extension services. Measures to control diseases, pests and vectors are also laid down.
Priority 2 regards increasing access to critical farm inputs. Strategic interventions encompass promotion of agriculture mechanization; sustainable local manufacture and maintenance of suitable agricultural machinery for farm production and postharvest processing; strengthening capacity for technical information acquisition, equipment evaluation and sustainable operation of agricultural machinery; imporvement of access to high quality seeds and planting materials as well as access to water for agricultural production; investing in modern irrigation technologies; increasing access to and use of fertilizers by all categories of farmers.
Priority 3 is to improve access to agricultural markets and value addition. Interventions will promote private sector investment in physical agricultural markets, improvement in the stock and quality of commodity storage facilities including cold chain storage facilities, and commodity quality preserving transport systems along the value chains through PPP.
The instrument promotes the strengthening of ecologically sound agricultural research and climate change resilient technologies and practices. The specific undertakings that will be pursued under generation of technologies are include generating appropriate, safe, climatic change resilient and cost-effective agricultural technologies, innovations and management practices (TIMPS).
In the field of governance, Priority 4 outlines interventions for institutional and enabling environment strengthening. This includes strengthening and improving the agricultural sector M&E systems. The ASSP will be implemented under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, whose mandate is to promote and support sustainable and market oriented agricultural production, food security and household incomes.