President William Ruto's two-year BETA achievements

 SPONSORED 

When the Kenya Kwanza Government took office in 2022, President Ruto pledged transformative leadership through the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).

This agenda focuses on five key areas: Agriculture, Health, Housing, MSME Economy, and the Digital Superhighway and Creative Economy.

The Plan’s vision is to improve the lives of economically marginalized Kenyans and address long-standing economic exclusion.

.

Keep Reading business

•  TVETs to get Sh49 million funding for tech training
•  Amsons' bid for Bamburi Cement gets Comesa approval
•  Co-op Bank third-quarter profit jumps to Sh19b on higher income
•  I am not about to retire, Equity's James Mwangi says Premium
•  Report: Construction sector leads in mobile money use Premium

The following is a summary of the government’s achievements in these five areas;

Agriculture

Recognizing that food constitutes 54% of household expenditures in Kenya, the Government prioritized reducing the cost of living through agricultural reforms. The focus shifted from subsidizing consumption to subsidizing production and enhancing agricultural productivity.

STRATEGIES

Reduction in the cost of farm inputs Increasing farmers’ incomes Creating more agricultural sector jobs Improving agricultural productivity and value addition

ACHIEVEMENTS

 Fertilizer Subsidy Program

The Fertilizer Subsidy Program involved digital registration of all farmers and subsequently making low cost fertilizer available to them to enhance food production, thereby reducing food costs to the consumer and also creating job opportunities in the agricultural sector.

Improvement of Key Agricultural Value Chains

Tea

Removal of VAT: The Government has removed VAT on tea purchased from local factories for value addition.

SME Support: The Government has supported MSMEs by providing equipment for speciality tea production. These efforts have increased smallholder farmer earnings by 11.8%, from KSH 59.02 shillings in 2022 to Sh66 shillings in 2024.

Edible Oils

The Government has distributed 556 metric tonnes of sunflower seeds to 34 counties, with further investment in seed multiplication and coconut cultivation. This has resulted in an 8.3% increase in the acreage under sunflower farming, from 60,000 acres in 2022 to 64,980 acres in 2024.

Leather

Initiatives undertaken by the Government to revitalize the leather industry include;

Operationalizing the Kariokor Common Manufacturing Facility.

Completing the Central Effluent Treatment Plants at Kenanie Industrial Leather Park, and providing training and tools to flayers.

Livestock insurance coverage has expanded by 65.5% from 304,211 in 2022 to 503,469 in 2024.

These, among other initiatives, have led to a 30% increase in the utilization of processing capacity for skins, from 40% in 2022 to 70% in 2024.

Dairy

The Government has raised the guaranteed minimum price for milk from KSH37 in 2022 to KSH 50 per litre in 2024 (New KCC), representing a 35% increase. As a result, milk production has grown by 13%, from 4.6 billion litres in 2022 to 5.2 billion litres in 2024.

Rice

Paddy rice production has grown by 19%, rising from 192,299 metric tonnes in 2023 to 229,064 metric tonnes in 2024. This increase has also resulted in a 19% boost in milled rice production, which climbed from 124,994 metric tonnes to 148,892 metric tonnes during the same period.

These targeted interventions in key agricultural value chains have notably increased productivity, reduced costs, and boosted farmers’ earnings.

MSME ECONOMY

The MSME sector employs about 85% of Kenya’s workforce, hence the focus the Kenya Kwanza Government has placed on supporting and enhancing the sector’s ability to contribute towards the economic transformation of Kenya through the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA). It aspires to transform the MSME economy to absorb the youth joining the workforce every year and grow the operational surplus for workers.

STRATEGIES

To achieve this goal, the government committed to ending the criminalization of work, providing access to finance, and enhancing infrastructure and capacity building. The above was to be achieved by refurbishment and equipping of common user facilities to promote value chains and rollout of the Hustler Fund among other measures.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Refurbishment and Equipping of CIDCs That Provide Spaces for MSMEs

21 County Industrial Development Centers (CIDSs) set up and refurbished between 2022 and 2024. These include;

Leather Value Chains in Suneka, Isiolo South, Malindi, Runyenjes, and Banisa.

Textile Value Chains in Mwea, Kitale, Olkalau, and Embakasi North.

Construction and Building Value Chains Machakos Town, Kajiado Central, Ilasit, Iten and Aldai-Kabujoi Dairy Value Chains in Kangema, Othaya and Londiani.

Edible Oils Value Chains in Funyula, Marimati, Kianyaga and Chonyi.

Construction of County Aggregation Industrial Parks (CAIPS)

 In 2022, the Government commenced and is in the process of constructing 19 County Aggregation Industrial Parks countrywide.

Financial Inclusion Launch of Hustler Fund: In 2022, the Government launched the Hustler Fund to provide affordable credit to Kenyans, especially those at the lower end of the economic pyramid in Kenya.

Individual Loans: 21.87 million individuals have benefitted from the fund which has disbursed KSH 54.9 billion in addition to helping individual borrowers to save KSH 3.1 billion.

Loans to MSMEs and Groups: 673,340 groups have so far subscribed and benefited from the fund which has disbursed KSH 185.8 million.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Article 43(b) of the constitution of Kenya 2010 accords every Kenyan the right to “accessible and adequate housing”. The Government committed to the construction of 200,000 affordable housing units annually and in the process, creating quality jobs for the youth.

STRATEGIES

Increase the supply of new affordable houses to 200,000 per year, especially for those at the lower end of the economic pyramid.

Grow mortgages from 30,000 to 1,000,000 through mortgage refinancing.

Provide high-quality construction production to be achieved by strengthening Jua Kali industry’s capacity.

Give developers tax and other incentives to build more affordable houses.

ACHIEVEMENTS

The government provided the following incentives for Affordable Housing Developers:

Reduced Railway Development Levy from 2% in 2022 to 1.5% in 2024.

A 15% drop in corporate tax from 30% in 2022 to 15% in 2024 for those developers who construct 100 affordable houses per year.

A 1.5% drop in Import Declaration Fees (IDC) from 3.5% in 2022 to 2% in 2024.

UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE

The right to health is a fundamental human right guaranteed in the Constitution of Kenya 2010. Article 43 (1) (a) of the Constitution provides that ‘Every person has the right to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes the right to health care services, including reproductive health care’.

In fulfilment of this constitutional mandate; the Kenya Kwanza Government aspires to provide 100% Universal Healthcare for essential health services, thereby guaranteeing quality and affordable healthcare to all Kenyans.

STRATEGIES

Revamping Health Financing through the establishment and operationalization of the Social Health Insurance Scheme.

Investing in Health Products and Technologies by Increased availability of essential supplies and health automation.

Enhancing Community Health by Recruitment and Kitting of Community Health Promoters (CHPs). Building Health Infrastructure by construction of new health facilities.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Establishment of three funds namely;

Social Health Insurance Fund

Primary Health Care Fund

Emergency, Chronic and Critical Illness Fund

These funds will increase the accessibility and affordability of quality healthcare to all Kenyans.

Enactment of four laws to support the rollout of UHC, which include:

Primary Healthcare Act 2023

Social Health Insurance Act 2023

Digital Health Act 2023

Facility Improvement Financing Act 2023

Health Products and Technologies

Increased Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA) fill rate by 3% from 59% in 2022 to 62% in 2024.

This was achieved through the following interventions;

KEMSA Recapitalization: KSH 500 million disbursed towards increasing drugs and health products.

Construction and Operationalization of regional distribution centers to increase access and availability of drugs and non-pharmaceuticals.

Kisumu Regional Distribution Centre is now operational

Embakasi Supply Chain Distribution Centre ready for commissioning

Mombasa Regional Center renovation ongoing to increase capacity

Community Health

269% Increase in number of CHPs Receiving Stipend: Increased number of CHPs receiving the KSH 2,500 monthly stipend by 78,000 from 29,000 CHPs in 2022 to 107,000 CHPs in 2024, an increase of 269%.

2,629% Increase in Primary Care Networks (PCNs): An increase by 184 of PCNs from 7 in 2022 to 191 in 2024, an increase of 2,629%.

Health Infrastructure 1.7% Increase in Level 4 Hospitals: The number of Level 4 Hospitals has increased by 6 from 357 in 2022 to 363 in 2024, an increase of 1.7%.

Specialized Facilities: 6 specialized facilities have been established.

As part of enhancing Human Resources for Health, 14 new KMTC campuses have been opened, increasing them from 71 in 2022 to 85 in 2024 (19% increase). The number of Graduates from KMTCs has increased by 43% from 15,915 in 2022 to 22,695 in 2023.

DIGITAL SUPERHIGHWAY AND THE CREATIVE ECONOMY

The Government set out to deploy the Digital Superhighway as a driver of business growth, and job creation and an enabler to the other four BETA Pillars as well as enhancing revenue collection.

STRATEGIES

Ensure universal broadband availability throughout the country by installation of optic fibre and installation of JiConnect Hotspots.

Establish Africa Regional Hub & promote the development of software for export through the employment of the youth through Jitume and Ajira Programs.

Enhance government service delivery through digitization by onboarding government services in the eCitizen platform

ACHIEVEMENTS

Installation of Fiber Optic Cable 111% Increase in the Fiber Optic Cable: The government has installed and operationalized an additional 9,867 kms of fiber optic cable countrywide increasing from 8,900 Kms in 2022 to 18,767 Kms in 2024, an increase of 111%.

Establishment of 1,490 Wi-Fi Hot spots countrywide Establishment of 274 Digital Hubs 16,804 digital devices distributed through the 274 Digital Hubs.

Youth Training and Employment

598% Increase in Training on Digital Literacy: The number of youths receiving training on Digital Literacy to prepare them for online work has increased by 598% from 73,948 in 2022 to 516,505 in 2024, an increase of 598%.