Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to preside over the official opening of this year's Nairobi International Trade Fair. This event provides an opportunity for all actors in the agricultural and trade value chain to interact, share ideas and establish business linkages. It is my hope that participants will make the best use of this event.

The theme of this Trade Fair is "Driving Agribusiness in Attaining Food Sufficiency and Vision Twenty Thirty". This theme is particularly appropriate at this time when we are facing the challenge of food insecurity. It is also consistent with our efforts to develop agriculture as the sector that will contribute significantly to transformation of our country into a middle income economy by TWENTY THIRTY.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
This year's Nairobi Trade Fair is taking place at a time when we are experiencing considerable volatility in financial markets around the world. The Central Bank and other relevant government agencies will be implementing various measures aimed at stabilizing the exchange rate of the Kenya Shilling and overall level of domestic prices. These will address the speculation in the trading of foreign exchange as well as reduce the rate of inflation. In addition, the Central Bank will diversify sources of building up its foreign exchange reserves.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Agriculture remains the backbone of our economy. The contribution of the sector, directly and indirectly, to our Gross Domestic Product stands at 51 percent. In the year 2010, agriculture registered a growth of about 6 percent, which is the highest achieved in the country in the last four decades. This growth was fuelled by the rise in the production of tea, cereals, sugar, and coffee.

The livestock sector also recorded impressive growth with dairy production increasing by about 10 percent. The promotion of fish farming through our Economic Stimulus Programme has resulted in the increase of fish farmers from 8,000 in the year 2009 to 52,000 last year. This has enhanced fish production, with a total of 140,000 tons of fish and fishery products produced last year.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Despite the growth experienced in the agricultural sector, Kenya's national food production has declined over the last year due to several factors. These include drought, escalating food and fuel prices as well as the high cost of farm inputs such as fertilizers.

My Government has stepped up measures to address these challenges. To mitigate the impact of increasing food prices, the Government has waived import duty on maize and wheat for a period of six months with effect from July this year. We have also taken steps to ensure that key agricultural inputs are available to farmers at affordable prices. The Ministry of Agriculture has a stock of about 40,000 metric tons of assorted fertilizers and adequate seeds for the next short rains season. As a long term measure, and to ensure the provision of affordable seeds and fertilizer, I direct the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance to expedite the establishment of the Fertilizer and Seeds Fund.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
To cushion ourselves from the recurrent cycles of drought, the Government has continued to increase investments towards irrigation. This will reduce our reliance on rain fed agriculture and guarantee our food security. In Kenya, we have about 1.2 million hectares of suitable and available land for irrigation. The government has set a target of irrigating all this land in the next five years. I am therefore directing the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Treasury to put in place adequate measures that will ensure that this goal is achieved.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
The government is committed to support the continued growth of the agricultural sector. We are determined to see the transformation of this sector from one that mainly focuses on subsistence to a more commercial and market oriented endeavor.

Infrastructure such as transport and energy plays an important role in the development of agriculture. My government has in the last seven years embarked on an ambitious programme of construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of roads. While there is still much to be done, impressive progress has been made in linking agricultural production areas to various markets. I urge crop and livestock farmers to increase their production and benefit from the enhanced access to markets and the improved distribution networks.

Equally, I urge the business community countrywide to embark on massive processing and value addition for our agricultural products as a first step towards widespread industrialization in our country. Agro-processing will also increase our capacity to preserve and store food for a dry season.
With increased electricity connectivity, especially to our rural areas the farmers and business people have started agro-processing and value addition thus increasing rural incomes from crop and livestock farming activities. This development must be multiplied several fold in order to help deal with the twin problem of rural unemployment and poverty.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Political stability is a key determinant in economic development. My government will ensure that an appropriate political environment that will enable economic activities to thrive is maintained. The consistent and timely implementation of our new Constitution is one important step in this direction. Moreover, I call upon all three Arms of Government to continue working together and ensure that security, health and economic wellbeing of our people is improved and that all our citizens have a high quality of life.

In conclusion, I would like to commend the Agricultural Society of Kenya, the exhibitors, participants and all who contributed toward making this Trade Fair a success.

I now have the pleasure to declare the 2011 Nairobi International Trade Fair officially open.

Thank you and God bless you.