Japan has granted a loan worth 12.1 billion shilling ($149 million) to Kenya to help the impoverished African nation build an irrigation system to improve agricultural production and food security.
Kenya's Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Shigeo Iwatani, Japanese Ambassador to Kenya, signed two agreements on Monday -Mwea irrigation development project and the improvement of water supply system in Embu, a town about 120 kilometers northeast of capital Nairobi.
Construction of irrigation and drainage facilities are expected to boost rice production in Kenya, a country that seeks to reduce its reliance on imports.
The fund will be used to irrigate 30,000 hectares of farmland in Mwea, southeast of the capital, said David Stower, permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation.
Despite agriculture being the dominant sector in the country's economy, Kenya imports food materials.
Kenya is benefited by the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) initiative, launched at Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV).
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