The Japanese government on Monday extended to Kenya a Loan Aid amounting to 12 billion shillings ($147 million) for the Mwea Irrigation Development Project located 100 Km South East of Nairobi.

The Japanese government also have Kenya an additional 2 billion shillings ($24 million) for the Project for Improvement of the Water Supply System in Embu in eastern Kenya and the surrounding area.

The signing ceremony was held in Nairobi between Kenya’s Finance Minister, Uhuru Kenyatta and Shigeo Iwatani, Ambassador of Japan to Kenya.

The Loan Aid extended to Mwea is mainly to enhance the scheme through construction of irrigation and drainage facilities.

This aid has been given to help promote irrigation as a way of increasing agricultural production and food security.

The irrigation scheme is the largest rice irrigation scheme in Kenya, producing about 80 percent of all rice produced in the country.

At the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) initiative was launched to support the efforts of African countries to increase rice production. Its goal was to double the rice production in ten years from 2008.

“This aid, as part of the initiative, is important especially to Kenya where Agriculture remains the dominant sector in the country’s economy,” said the Japanese envoy.

The Project for Improvement of the Water Supply System in Embu and the surrounding area will involve construction and operation of water supply and related facilities.

Its aim is to provide easy access to safe and sufficient amount of drinking water to people in Embu and its environs.

Joseph Kimani