Agriculture, Technology Top Agenda As Uhuru Meets Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney

President Uhuru Kenyatta today at State House, Mombasa held talks with the visiting Foreign Affairs Minister of the Republic of Ireland Simon Coveney.

The President and his visitor discussed a wide array of bilateral and multilateral subjects of mutual interest to Kenya and Ireland top among them agriculture and technology transfer.

President Kenyatta expressed Kenya’s gratitude to the Government of Ireland for its financing of the one million pound Irish potato value-chain project being implemented by the International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC) in Nyandarua County.

“We are very grateful for the collaboration we have in the agricultural sector. The results have been great. The collaboration in potato farming has made such a huge impact at the grassroots,” President Kenyatta said.

The Head of State welcomed Ireland’s decision to support Kenya’s diary sector and encouraged the European nation to extend the same assistance to the beef sub-sector.

“We would appreciate help in this field (beef sub-sector) as it will go a long way in creating food stability amongst our people besides boosting meat exports from our livestock,” the President said.

On technology transfer, the President said the country will continue partnering with Ireland through the Young Scientists Kenya (YSK) organization. He said YSK had given Kenyan youth a platform to incubate and exhibit their innovations through the annual national science and technology contest.

“Technology is one area where we are keen on improving as our youth are quite techsavvy. We have invested heavily and collaboration in this field will be of mutual benefit to both our countries. I see tremendous opportunities with your help in the technology world,” the President said.

On his part, Minister Coveney thanked the President for the Kenya Government’s commitment to building strong relations with his country noting that the potato project in Nyandarua County was a major success.

The Minister expressed Ireland’s desire to expand its support to other sectors of the Kenyan economy saying, the European nation’s cooperation support for science and technology projects was laying a firm foundation for the country’s economic prosperity.

“Cooperation through the Young Scientists Kenya (YSK) is also picking momentum and some of the members were able to come to Ireland and participate in some science events and competitions,” Mr Coveney said.

President Kenyatta was joined in the meeting with the Irish Minister by Foreign Affairs CS Raychelle Omamo and Head of Public Service Dr Joseph Kinyua.