Events: KCB Naivasha Horticultural Fair, Sept. 14-15 2012 @ Naivasha Sports Club

Having worked for the Ministry of Agriculture (Planning Department) for a couple of years. I came to appreciate the role Agriculture plays in our economy. One of the biggest income earners in this sector is Horticulture. Therefore it is a no brainier that KCB (local Bank) realises this and has partnered up with the horticultural sector for the last few years as the title sponsor to materialise this fair which is celebrating it's tenth anniversary.

If you live in Nairobi you will notice the trend where corporate Kenya has been involved in quite a number of activities lately. This more pronounced especially in the banking sector. The sector boosts of sponsoring marathons (Nairobi Stan Chart Marathon), to involvement in the community (Barclays Bank) and facilitating education (Equity Bank) through its foundation. The latter is re-writing how we perceive corporate social responsibility through its wings to fly programme. 

Why I Like the Horticulture Fair?

Most of the European countries (Germany & France) have agricultural fairs which are popular in their respective countries and attract humongous crowds (the likes of crowds we have in entertainment circles). So I like this initiative and collaboration and hope other corporates will follow KCB and put their money where their mouth is. 

Dates: September 14-15, 2012

Venue: Naivasha Sports Club

Tickets*: Adults Kshs 300, Children under 16 Kshs 100

* All Profits go to local charities

Read sponsorship info here and visit their official website

Walking Nation

Everyone’s lips are fixated to the rising cost of living that we are experiencing in this country. A lot of this has to do with rising cost of petroleum products which have hit 3 digits from Kshs ninety something to over a hundred Kenya Shillings. To add insult to injury the country may be experiencing another drought. From where I sit the government has been requesting a report on the impact of drought on food prices.

However, what you don’t fail to notice while coming to work or going home is the sheer number of persons who are walking to and from work. So one has to ask has this country become Cuba or is it under an embago of sorts?

I was fortunate enough to attend a public forum organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA-Kenya) which centered on effects of petroleum pricing regulations in Kenya.

Members/ speakers presents were cross cutting along the value chain of petroleum products from middle boys of the industry i.e. Petroleum Institute of East Africa (PIEA), regulators i.e. Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), independent petroleum suppliers and consumers/consumer organization i.e. the Consumer Federation of Kenya (COFEK).

MIA were the big industrial players (BP, NOC, etc) nevertheless, one was able to get a picture on how the industry operates. Perhaps of interest to every one present was how the ERC was going about its business of setting up prices of petroleum products.

One of the things to note is that ERC mandate to control prices came into force in December 15, 2010. However, since its mandate came into operation people presents were of the view that they have not experienced an adjustment of prices downwards. The ERC was of the opinion it is too early to start judging its performance.

During the Q&A session we wanted to know how pump prices were arrived at and from the pump prices in early December of Kshs 91. Here is the breakdown;

	Kshs	KShs	%
Landing Price Mombasa		49
Taxes		29.85	60%
Margins (Marketers)	6
(Retailers)	3
		9	11%
Transport		4	5%
Total		91.85

From the above you will notice the government gets a huge chunk in taxation. So the question is if the treasury would reduce the amount of taxation?

Well, the treasury according to ERC officials present pointed out that it would want to know where it can recover that amount from!

From my own perspective I tend to think that should this continue (Read: Drought, floods and food. An opinion piece from Paul Krugman) then come 2012 a lot of legislators are going home or anything in between is anyone’s guess!
Presentations:
Energy Regulation Commission Presentation: Examining the Rationale & Effects of Petroleum Pricing Regulation in Kenya (Part 1 and Part 2)

U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger at MindSpeak

It came as a pleasant surprise to me to know that Ambassador Michael Ranneberger was to speak at MindSpeak. Being the first sitting diplomat from another country (in this case the USA) invited to speak at the business club meeting. But I came to realize the ambassador is a man of firsts in many fields.

The ambassador started his presentation by shifting our mindset of the fact that by him being the ambassador of US in Kenya he is then by implication the CEO of the mission in Kenya. Giving a few statistics of his portfolio, He has 1500 employees under him, 500 Americans and 1000 Kenyans and that the mission handles about US dollars 1 Billion which flow to Kenya through the various agencies his country has in Kenya. 

Ambassador Ranneberger was not shy to speak about his previous engagements which you can say have influenced him to the ambassador he is today. Surprising is the fact that he had not anticipated a career in the diplomatic corps and that he was going to post a letter in the post office that he saw an advert to do a test to join the corps.

He had been studying his PhD in history and was about to do his dissertation and then as he put it become a teacher in one of the colleges.  He also shared with us that when he started his stint in the diplomatic corps he was a shy person and could not fathom talking to a group of people (like the house full MindSpeak).

He also hinted on his style of doing things in that he does not read theological books but relies mostly from his experience and that his style is both positive and confident.

Pointing on the time when the Post Election Violence was occurring. One of the things at his disposal was flying out his staff BUT he didn’t take that option. What he did was to rely on his instinct and experience, assembled his staff or troops if you like and told them that the situation would be over in a couple of months.

He also talked briefly on the role the US played behind the scenes to resolve the crisis. Pointing out on how the principals were a taken by the dailies headline which ran across all spectrum of newspapers in Kenya ‘Save our Country’.

Being an American citizen he did not hesitate to talk about his country and values. Talking about what is going on in the States ‘Tea Party Movement’ and the electoral swings they experience. Also pointing out that American values are always consistent what may change are the tactics or Strategy.

He also talked of how he had met the President during his Chief of Mission Conference last year and how the President is abreast on what is happening in the country.

He also talked on his definitive speech he was to give on 25/01/2011 at the American Camber of Commerce dinner in Kenya.

Ambassador Ranneberger also talked briefly on the three major programmes his government is involved in Kenya.

• PEPFAR US dollars (580 million) Largest amount spent in a single country the whole world
• Democracy and Governance initiatives i.e. Youth Programmes
• Environment and Agriculture i.e Feed the future programme (Signed in 2010 at KARI)

US Interests in Kenya

View Larger Map

One of the things we like the US ambassador is that he is forthright and this was NOT an exception. He candidly pointed out the US interests in Kenya which are;

1. Democracy and Stability (As is the US goal any part of the world)
2. Development
3. Regional Stability (Pointing out Somalia & Sudan). Mind you Sen. John Kerry was in Southern Sudan during the referendum to secede from the North
4. Counter Extremism

However he did not talk much about China which has been making in roads in this region and South Korea which I have noticed is also coming along.

However, during the Q&A he did point out Robert B. Zoellick who brought a new paradigm to Washington of NOT viewing Beijing as a Competitor in the World stage but as an ally during his tenure as the US Trade Representative before joining World Bank.

So he welcomed the positive competition that China is currently giving them. Noting that US ceased from doing infrastructure projects he does not mind China assisting African countries in developing their infrastructure. However, he cautioned in passing that he had observed NOT many African were involved in these projects, so the issue of Kenyans gaining from these cooperations was minimal.

Youth Issue

The ambassador talked about why the state dept is investing in the youth alluding to the fact that the youth are the future.
Hence programs that target interacting with the youth have gained traction in the state dept with the ambassador present on the social networks.

Here are some of the snippets from the ‘Hope for the future speech’ which was delivered on Tuesday 25/01/2011 at the American Chamber of Commerce dinner where the ambassador was the keynote speaker. I consider this speech definitive because it has lots of stats which are credible considering the US sponsors quite a number of Statistical undertakings in the country.

“President Obama has a strong interest in developing the leadership skills of young people, and last year held his first Young Africa Leaders Forum.  He has charged young people to be agents of change and to “stand up for democracy and transparent government.”  Our $45 million “Yes Youth Can” program will empower hundreds of thousands of youth to participate in the development of their country, and expand their peaceful participation in the democratic process. 

Our work with youth supports the initiatives of young people themselves.  Importantly, the National Youth Forum works across ethnic and political lines with a common agenda to promote peaceful reform. We welcome the National Youth Forum’s efforts to establish County Youth Forums in every county.  We are establishing a $10 million youth-led and youth-owned Youth Innovate for Change Fund that will provide youth with opportunities to access capital for economic development”.  

“Over half of Kenya’s population lives in poverty, living on less than $2 per day.  Kenya is ranked in the bottom 20% of countries in the UNDP Human Development Index.  Real unemployment among the two-thirds of the population which are under 35 stands at nearly 50 percent’’

“Support for the empowerment of youth to expand their participation in the democratic system and to assist them to develop businesses to create new jobs”.

Agriculture

"Kenya has recently been designated a focus country for two of President Obama’s global initiatives.  Through the Feed the Future Initiative, working with the Government of Kenya we have affirmed a commitment to achieve significant agricultural development objectives, including alleviating the suffering of the over 2 million Kenyans who are chronically food insecure.  Last September at KARI, I announced an initial USG investment of $29 million to support Kenya’s agricultural strategy through the Feed the Future initiative.  We will also continue to provide humanitarian assistance to combat drought".

"Real success in the agricultural sector, however, will require the GOK’s commitment to the political and economic reform agenda, including land reform, a strengthened fight against corruption, restructuring and/or elimination of the 34 agriculture-related parastatals, including the NCPB, and removing protectionist tariffs and import licenses that increase the price of basic foodstuffs to the poor".

The writer is an intern at Ministry of Agriculture, Planning Department and contributes/one of the admins of NairobiNow.

Half-Day Experts Round table Tit Bits (Agriculture)

The above meeting was called by HBf to address the following ;

‘Irrigation Agriculture in Kenya: Impact of the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) and Long-Term Prospects for Food Security in an Era of Climate Change’

Date: November 16, 2010

Venue: Intercontinental Hotel-Nairobi

Welcoming Remarks

The meeting was called to order at 0930hrs by Dr. Axel Harneit-Sievers who is the Regional Director of Heinrich Boll Stiftung.

In his welcoming remarks Dr. Axel noted Kenya has a problem with food security which can tackled from a policy perspective.

This is where Heinrich Boll Stiftung (HBf) comes into the picture in an effort to enrich the discussion. Hence, HBf commissioned a study which was done by Kassim Were (lead Researcher) from Tegemeo Institut and had the participation of Alex Mwaniki from Ministry of Agriculture. This study was to inquire on the impact (if any) of the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) on Irrigation Agriculture in Kenya.

Kenya introduced ESP in 2009 and one of the things it was dealing with was providing support for Irrigation Projects. So this study provided a beautiful opportunity to look what has come out of it. Thus, the study looked at various schemes and the finding that were to be presented had gone through various rounds of reflection and HBf is looking forward to publish this study early next year.

Introductions

Mr. Kassim Were the Moderator of the session oversaw the introductions which also included mention of organizations represented at the forum. Thereafter, he gave the floor to Francis Z. Karin

Study Findings

Irrigation Agriculture in Kenya: Impact of ESP and Long-term Prospects for Food Security in an Era of Climate Change-Findings

• Study was conducted between September –October 2010
• Other researchers involved were Kevin and Alex Mwaniki
• Methodology used was review of available literature and field interviews

Some of the findings of this study are;

• Kenya’s food security is very weak
• Kenya land under irrigation is 1.8%
• Kenya’s Irrigation potential is 1,900,000 Ha

The Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) was launched in 2009 with a 22 Billion budget. This budget is higher that 14.4 Billion budget allocated to Ministry of Water.

Irrigation Agriculture Phase I spent Kshs 2 Billion. This was allocated as follows;

Institution                                  Percentage

Ministry of Agriculture             12%

National Youth Service            16%

TARDA                                   32%

National Irrigation Board          40%

Challenges faced within Irrigation Sector

• Archaic Irrigation Act-1966
• Undefined location of Irrigation leading to turf wars
• NIB-Management capacity, Political interference
• Inadequate funding
• Lack of Irrigation water
• Marketing Problems
• Poor access to credit, lack of capacity, participation by farmers
• Poor land tenure and land use system

Recommendations/Observations

Francis Z. Karim did observe that it was not within their mandate to give recommendations BUT observations drawn from this study are;

Short-term                                                                    Long-term

Institutional capacity                                 Policy issues-Explore possibilities of PPPS-     Smallholder model

Appropriate Storage & dry facilities         Separation of Mandates

Timely disbursement of funds

Questions and Answer Session

This session was moderated by Kassim Were and some of the questions raised were;

1. Outsource our irrigation
2. Involve youth in irrigation projects
3. There is a need to consider irrigation scheme in Bundalangi
4. Sampled areas in ASAL’s
5. The study restricted areas of irrigation. There is need to look at the potential of irrigation areas
6. Mechanizing and bringing smallholder farmers into irrigation
7. Basis of  calculating payback period on investment on irrigation (from study presentation)
8. Separate factors affecting irrigation (external & internal)
9. ESP was a short term cris management. Need to suggest long term solutions which should look into irrigation from a ‘business unusual’ perspective and also look into marketing final products of irrigation
10. Marketing & poor harvesting issues should be handled

The lead researcher Francis responded briefly to some of these questions before we had a tea break.

 Panel Discussion

After tea break a panel discussion was held. The panel consisted of;

• Francis Z. Karin, researcher
• Kevin Onyango, Research Assistant
• Representatives from mwea & Ahero Irrigation Schemes
• Justus Monda, Vice-Chair, Kenya Small-Scale Cereals Growers
• Ministry of Agriculture & water and Irrigation

The discussion mostly looked into the earlier queries raised.

Wrap-up

Dr. Axel thanked those present for an engaging and extremely informative half day deliberations.

THE LAUNCH OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY (ASDS) AND SIGNING OF THE KENYA CAADP COMPACT

On 24 July 2010 Kenya signed the African Union and the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) Compact and the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy 2010 - 2020, the new blueprint for Kenya's agricultural sector.

A pre-launch forum had been held the previous day (23 July 2010) to offer a platform for information-sharing between the CAADP Lead Pillar institutions and stakeholders.

Stakeholders were taken through detailed presentations on the 4 CAADP pillars (Pillar 1, Pillar 2, Pillar 3 and Pillar 4) and afforded a question-and-answer session.

The president together with his ministers were at hand on 24^th July to witness the signing and in his address the president noted that more than 80 per cent of the total population in Africa lives in the rural areas and is mainly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and that agriculture remains the mainstay of most African economies contributing about 30 per cent to the GDP and providing more than 60 per cent of all employment. 'In spite of its importance, the agricultural sector remains largely underdeveloped in Africa," President Kibaki added. 'Out of the 874 million hectares of arable land in Africa, for example, only 27 per cent is optimally utilized'.

The President futher deplored the low use of farm inputs such as fertilizer, improved seed and mechanization, and little irrigation potential resulting in the continent being a net importer of food and agricultural products. He outlined measures that African countries should take to revitalize agriculture in Africa.

'I am encouraged to note that the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme that we shall be signing today is a step in this direction and aims at the implementation of these measures,' President Kibaki said. 'The objective of this African programme is to support country-driven agricultural development strategies and programmes by establishing clear commitments to deliver on specific targets'.

This commitment paves the way for Kenya to get resources from the World Bank and other development partners to carry out the activities it has outlined in the medium-term investment plan for the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy that will soon be presented for financing. Kenya is also expected to commit at least 10 per cent of its national budget to agriculture as is required by the CAADP Compacts.

Others who addressed participants during the launch included Mr Sindiso Ngwenya, Secretary General of COMESA; the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Romano Kiome; the Minister for Agriculture, Dr Sally Kosgei; the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta.

More than 400 participants attended the ceremony. Participants included sector ministers and assistant ministers, agricultural experts, policymakers, representatives from farmer organizations, the private sector, development partners, non-governmental organizations, representatives of the African Union / NEPAD, the East African Community (EAC), and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA).

Hon Uhuru Kenyatta and Hon Dr Sally Kosgei signed the Kenya CAADP Compact on behalf of the Government of Kenya. Other signatories to the Compact included a representative of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, the EU Head of Delegation on behalf of the Agricultural Sector Development Partners, representative for the African Union Commission, Mr Sam Kanyarukiga for NEPAD (CAADP); and Mr Sindiso Ngwenya for COMESA.

Other countries in the COMESA region to sign the CAADP Compact are Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Uganda and, more recently, Tanzania.

At the same event, President Kibaki launched the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy 2010 - 2020 (ASDS). 'I am glad to note that the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy has mainstreamed all the principles of the CAADP... the strategy is effectively the Kenyan tool for implementing the continental framework,' he said. The strategy is a guide for public and private sectors efforts in overcoming the outstanding challenges facing the agricultural sector in Kenya. Besides ensuring food and nutritional security for all Kenyans, the ASDS aims at generating higher incomes as well as employment, especially in the rural areas.

The strategy is expected to position the agricultural sector as a key driver in achieving the 10 per cent annual economic growth rate envisaged under the economic pillar of Vision 2030. The agricultural sector ministries will ensure that farmers, producers, processors and marketers of agricultural produce employ the most contemporary methods and technologies. The strategy also underscores the need to develop and prudently manage factors of production such as land, water, inputs, and financial resources so that the cost of production is within international standards.

This will entail reforming and streamlining agricultural institutions that provide services to farmers such as extension, training, research and regulatory services to ensure that they serve farmers efficiently and cost effectively. Similarly, policy, legal and regulatory reforms will be instituted to encourage individual farmers to shift from subsistence to market-oriented production.

President Kibaki concluded by urging those entrusted with the responsibility of managing the sector to cultivate the culture of performance and service deliver. He also urged the farming, pastoral and fishing communities as well as the private sector to cooperate and fully participate in implementing the strategy.

President Mwai Kibaki presents the signed Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) Compact to Agriculture Minister, Dr. Sally Kosgei after the official launch of the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy (ASDS) at K.I.C.C, Nairobi.

Ministry of Agriculture Performance Contract Celebrations

The Ministry of Agriculture scored position two out of the 45 government ministries during the performance contracting* of 2008/2009 financial year. Therefore, it was only logical that celebrations had to be in the works.

The performance contracting celebrations were held at Bomas of Kenya grounds, Nairobi on August 18th 2010. The chief guest for these celebrations was Minister of State for Public Service, Mr. Dalmas Otieno with the Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Sally J. Kosgey playing the host of the celebrations.

Key Highlights

• Dr. Kosgei disclosed that out of the ministry’s budget of close to ksh18billion, most of it came from the 16 donor community (I believe most of this comes from the EU block).
• The Ministry of Agriculture will continue to provide relief seeds and fertilizer to vulnerable farmers across the country so as to achieve food security and market the surplus for their income.
• The Ministry of Agriculture contributed over ksh222billion to the GDP from the horticulture sector, 68billion from tea and a further 10billion from coffee earnings.

The Permanent Secretary, Dr. Romano Kiome, who is the unsung hero of this transformation taking place in the Agriculture sector assured the staff that the ministry that he was addressing technical staff shortage (one of the main problems of this Ministry) and those who had stagnated on one job group for long (another big problem).
He directed extension staff to ensure they armed themselves with business plan every time they visited farmers, so that they were sensitized the need to take ‘farming as business’.

He further added; “The ministry has developed seven fundamentals of management for use both by the staff and State Corporations to achieve the desired results’’. The ministry of agriculture has developed and signed the contract since 2005. Despite the challenges, it has managed to cascade the contract to all departments including field stations, state corporations and projects/programmes.

*Performance contracting is part of the wider public Sector Reform and Development programme implemented by the government across all ministries and other agencies that was supported by EU in a bid to transform the public sector.

Links

i) Ministry to source for funds from outside for funding its programmes

ii) Programmes and Projects

iii) Bomas of  Kenya

Photos:

Welcome to Bomas

Car Park

Camp Bomas

Bomas

China Africa Agricultural Forum

China next frontier in Africa after successively transforming the infrastructure of most African countries including Kenya now lies in Agriculture.

This frontier is now marked and defined with the recently held China-Africa Agricultural Forum which was held on August 11-12 2010 in Beijing, with the theme of opportunities and challenges for China-Africa agricultural cooperation in the new situation. Heads of parties and governments, agricultural ministers and entrepreneurs from nearly 20 African countries attended the forum with Kenya being represented by the Vice President Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka. The Chinese partners pointed out that the convening of the forum demonstrated the sincerity of China to help Africa achieve their independent development.

Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) which spell out the outcomes of contacts between China and Africa mostly from Chinese perspective gives a good indication on what Beinjing is up to i.e. China unveils proposals for agricultural cooperation with Africa 

At the closing ceremony, China and the African countries issued the Beijing Declaration of China-Africa Agricultural Forum, highlighting the problem of food security.

Recognizing that food security is a serious challenge for the world, the declaration said the international community in general, and developed countries in particular, should pay more attention to food security in Africa and honor their aid and debt-relief commitments.

"We call upon developed countries to make more effort to help African countries realize the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations," said the declaration.

Jointly organized by the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, the forum focused on opportunities and challenges in China-Africa agricultural cooperation and to show case the seriousness of this the China Daily had a story on China, Africa forge farming ties.

The vice President has of late has gone viral show casing his endeavors on facebook  and  mykalonzomusyoka website has kept everyone who cares updated on what he is up to.

So one has to wait to if the Chinese will carry on this as opposed to the Americans that have feed the future

Map of Africa

African Leaders

VP addressing the Forum

Obama Hosts Young African Leaders August 3–5

The US president will host African young leaders forum as from August 3-5 2010 and as fate should have it. He will also be celebrating his 49th birthday on August 4th 2010. Perhaps, this is the presidents gift to Africa as he celebrates his 49th birthday.
This conference brings together 100 young African leaders who will examine how they see Africa's future in the next 50 years and also come up with innovative solutions to the problems we face as they network and build working relationships.
This conference comes after he gave the 'Accra speech' in Ghana on his first visit to Africa as the president of USA where he put it bluntly that the future of Africa is with Africans themselves. This conference comes head over heals after an African team, the Ghanaians, sent the USA packing from the world cup!
The president has continued with the policies of previous presidents such as President Bill Clinton who came up with African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and his administration has come up with $ 3.5 billion food security initiative called feed the future which will help 12 African focus countries in modernizing their farm sectors.
So what does the president have in mind when he convened this forum?

“These steps are about more than growth numbers on a balance sheet. They’re about whether a young person with an education can get a job that supports a family; a farmer can transfer their goods to market; an entrepreneur with a good idea can start a business,” Obama said. “It’s about the dignity of work; it’s about the opportunity that must exist for Africans in the 21st century.”


So if he succeeds in his en devours we shall look in year 2060 and say the seeds of Africa's transformation started in 2010.

Below is the town hall meeting the president spared time for.

Town hall meeting at the white house

Important links:

• Feed the future website
• White house blog
• Obama's full speech at Town Hall meeting with Young African Leaders

Will Kenya achieve food security?

Kenya seems to be on the right path of making sure we achieve food security and that we meet some of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) such as reducing the number of people living below poverty lines to less than 25% by 2015 and reducing the food insecurity by 30%.

The Kenyan government has adopted the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy (ASDS) to be the overall national policy document to guide the sector ministries and all stakeholders in Agriculture. This document will be replacing the Strategy for Revitalizing Agriculture (SRA) which has been in force from 2004 to date (2010).

Some of the success of SRA was the adoption of farming as an enterprise mantra aka 'Kilimo biashara'. This saw policy makers selling the idea of farming as a viable business enterprise to farmers and a good enterprise for that matter. The success of this policy has seen a mind change in farmers attitudes about practicing agriculture from subsistence farming to commercial enterprise farming.

The new strategy has also taken into account the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) that recognizes agricultural's contribution to accelerated economic growth in Africa and that will require the finance ministry to allocate the Agricultural ministries 10% of the national budget from the current 8%. The signing of CAADP will also allow the country to access funding from the World Bank to finance this sector.
Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) work falls under 4 pillars.
These are:

1. Land & water management
2. Market access
3. Food supply & hunger
4. Agricultural research 

Perhaps what is left is establishment of a strong Monitoring and Evaluation team to access the impact of this new policy plus check that the funding streams into this sector are well used. Furthermore, an operational data collecting entity to track the growth on the ground. 

Useful links:

1. Kenya eyes food security status
2. Kibaki launches agricultural development strategy
3. The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) website
4. ASCU-Kenya website
5. Ministry of Agriculture (kilimo) website
6. European Union to finance agricultural programmes in Kenya
7. President Kibaki launches Kenya Agricultural Sector Development Strategy(ASDS)

Smallholder Dairy Commercialization Programme

How do you help rural people overcome poverty?
Well, IFAD seems to have a to have struck the right notes in this sphere of eradication of poverty through the Smallholder Dairy Commercialization Programme (SDCP).

SDCP Logo

Recently, I was on the field on Impact Assessment Survey of this program and I saw for myself how this programme has had a transformational change on the ground.
Farmers are empowered with skills on how to raise grade cows (gradually removing the old local breeds from their herds) which in turn provide continuous inflows to households and thus empowering households.

Previous Local/Indigenous herds kept

Replacement with English breeds

IFAD has been able to achieve this success through positive collaboration with Ministry of Livestock Development.

Vehicles belonging to extension officers

The roads now are the only stumbling block

Below are some of the pictures captured in the field:

Farmers are taught how to conserve fodder

Some of the fodders planted as a result of intensive training: 

Value Addition and Marketing:

Milk bar

Other Energy Conservation Aspects of this Project:

Bio-gas Production for the farmers

Technology Innovations at the farms

Bio gas Production at one of the farms visited

Useful Links:

1. Ministry of livestock SDCP page
2. IFAD projects website with facts and figures of the project
3. Ifadkenya project page

Blogging from Kilimo 2

Farm Budgets and the Enterprise-Mix Updates Sample Survey

In the second week of May I was assigned the task of going to the field under the consultant who had been hired by MoA with support of ASPS to carry out the above survey.

During this survey I learned a great deal from the Kiambu farmers i.e. the district in which our team was undertaking the survey.

Although, we are still crunching/analyzing the data there are some new information one could pick from the ground such as the emerging farming trends. Most of the notable observations were emerging crop being grown most notably mushrooms and horticulture.

EMERGING CROPS

1. MUSHROOMS

Statistics

From the survey I picked up that a Kilo of Mushroom retails in the Market at an average price of Kshs. 400 per Kg and gives a monthly income of about Kshs 30,000 if you operate a small shed (growing mushrooms).

Major challenges faced by farmers

• It requires a lot of capital to start i.e. Building a shed, securing wheat straw.
• Requires a lot of attention in terms of man hours i.e. (Labour)
• It requires raw materials that need to be sourced from specific regions (Wheat straw). This means that Mushroom farmers highly depend on Wheat farmers i.e. after the harvesting of wheat, mushroom farmers source the wheat straw. Hence during the current season there was a shortage of wheat straw due to the drought that had affected wheat crop.
• It is affected by diseases if the minimum conditions of mushroom farming are NOT met.
• The housing part requires constant repair.

Mushroom growing shed

Mushroom growing in the shed

Mushroom growing in the shed 2

2. HORTICULTURE

a) COURGETTES

Courgettes farming is slowly replacing tomatoes farming in the fields. The farmers are replacing tomatoes enterprises with courgettes enterprises. According to farmers tomatoes have become susceptible to diseases and planting tomatoes in the same farm for more than one season results in poor yields.

Courgettes fetch an average price of Kshs 500 per crate.

3. Chicken Farming Enterprise

Chicken farming enterprises