OPTIMISTIC: Israeli ambassador Gil Haskel during the interview in his office.
Netanyahu?s government has pledged to support Kenya in irrigating its arid areas starting with 10,000 hectares in Turkana to be inaugurated by the Israeli Prime Minister
Prime Minister Raila Odinga has been touring Israel this week and he came face to face with the world?s most successful projects reminiscent of Kazi Kwa Vijana programme here in Kenya. The PM was chief guest at the biennial Watec 2011 exhibition on Tuesday where numerous water technology companies founded by young people have been participating.
Israel has been funding college and university graduates to start technology firms in an incubation programme and many of them have grown into world game-changers.
These were some of the exhibitors at Watec, arguably the world?s most sought after water event flocked by thousands of faithful pilgrims from all over the world every two years. ?For us it?s a big honour that PM Raila is going to officially open the conference,? said Israel?s new ambassador to Kenya Gil Haskel in an interview last week.
The exhibition, properly known as the International Conference on Water Technologies, Renewable Energy and Environmental Control, has always attracted a sizeable Kenyan delegation. Raila?s visit comes as the embassy in Nairobi receives a major award from the UN millennium development goal?s centre for its contribution to achievement of MDGs in Kenya.
The award was presented to Ambassador Haskel at the ceremony in Nairobi last month. ?It?s a challenge because MDGs are a major thing internationally and we are just three years from the target time,? says Haskel.
He praises Raila?s visit saying Israel plans to broaden its areas of cooperation with Kenya. Cabinet minister Charity Ngilu and Yatta MP Charles Kilonzo joined the PM on the trip. Kilonzo, who has already initiated a successful greenhouse farming project with youths in his constituency, says he?s interested in the irrigation technology. Prof George Saitoti and assistant minister Magerer Langat were also in the delegation.
According to Haskel, Kenyans should expect more cutting edge agricultural technology on their farms. He says that the Israeli-supported Kibwezi irrigation scheme, which collapsed in 1990s, will be revived. The scheme was the showpiece of dryland irrigation in Kenya but multiplicity of partners contributed to its eventual collapse. The ambassador told the Star it will be resuscitated through a government partnership with an Israeli company. ?We hope it will be a public private partnership,? he says.
During his visit, Raila sealed a deal with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu that will see over 10,000 hectares of land in Turkana put under irrigation. The Turkana project will become Kenya? largest irrigation scheme with the Israeli government providing funding, expertise and technical support.
The deal was sealed in a meeting between the two PMs and the Israeli minister for Industry, Trade and Labour Shalom Shimhon in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.The meeting was also attended by Ngilu. Netanyahu is scheduled to arrive in Kenya in January to officially inaugurate the project in Todonyang area in what will be expected to be the largest irrigation scheme in the country.
Haskel describes his government?s incubation programme saying they reserve large amounts of money to support young innovators. ?The young innovators present ideas in any field. It can be water or agriculture. There?s a certain period through which the businesses are supported entirely and when they make profit the government recoups its investment. If they don?t, then you don?t pay at all,? Haskel says.
The increased investments in water relies on the fact that 70 per cent of the earth?s surface is covered by water, but only less than one per cent of this water is suitable for human consumption. This has opened opportunities in water recycling, desalination and even smart irrigation technologies.
According to scientists, sanitation and drinking water investments have high rates of return. For instance, for every one dollar invested, there is a projected $3-$4 economic development return. Haskel, who in his 20 year-long career has steered his country?s trade with East Asia, sees opportunities for technology transfer to Kenya.
Agriculture accounts for a quarter of gross domestic product in Kenya, generating 45 per cent of income and contributing more than half of the foreign exchange earnings. When he presented credentials to President Kibaki in October, the new ambassador mentioned irrigation was important for Kenya. He says: ?You have plenty of water here, something that we lack. How can a whole river flow into the ocean??
Israel recycles 75 per cent of its sewage water for farming and is now a leading fruit exporter even though the sprawling Negev desert covers nearly 65 per cent of the country. The envoy says being an ambassador to Kenya was his dream job. ?It?s a job I applied for and glad to be picked. I had never been to Africa before though I know we share a lot with Kenya,? he says.
The visit by Raila to the ?Holy Land? follows a visit by William Ruto in 2009 and last year by other ministers including Justice minister Mutula kilonzo. After his visit, Ruto initiated irrigation projects in the country as part of the lessons he had learnt. The country is currently investing Sh12.6 billion ($165 million) on irrigation schemes to reduce its dependence on rain-fed agriculture and grow more high-value crops, according to the government.
The schemes are supported by the African Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. An aide to Raila said the government would also ask for Israel?s help in combating terrorism. Kenyan army is currently in Somalia chasing after al Shabaab militia who have been terrorising civilians and kidnapping others.
The ambassador refuses to be drawn into this but says Kenya has valuable lessons to learn from Israel in this area as well. ?We have learnt it?s a relentless battle and you cannot show weakness because they will protect themselves as victorious,? he says.
Apart from Netanyahu, Raila also met other senior Israeli government officials including Speaker of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) Reuven Rivlin and opposition leader Tzipi Livni in the city of Jerusalem for discussions on national security issues. The PM also visited Israel?s biblical cities and sites including Bethlehem, Nazareth, Capernaum and River Jordan. He also laid a wreath at the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.
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Source: http://abdas.org/?sn=israel-predicts-booming-agriculture-for-kenya
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