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Feature

Financial Inclusion, Value Chain Innovation Critical to Agricultural Productivity in Kenya

BY David Indeje · May 28, 2016 06:05 am

Western Kenya region residents depend on agriculture for their livelihood, yet sector inefficiency is widespread across the region and the rest of the country.

Farmers cannot access reliable markets, buyers cannot access reliable markets, source adequate quantities of produce and intermediaries cannot cost- effectively provide services.

 

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Maize and sugarcane are the most important crops in Western Kenya region with maize as the main food crop. However, farmers are unable to increase their productivity unless the problems of plant diseases, reducing soil fertility and increasing soil acidity are overcome.

 

The end result is supply chain disorganization that depresses household income, increased food insecurity and hinders business development.

 Read:

Decline in Maize Production Hurting the Economy

Performance of Agricultural Sector Improved in 2015

Alternative farming technology is rarely adopted because farmers lack adequate access to credit inputs and markets. Water is a limiting factor. Only farmers with access to water and efficient water management technologies can effectively practice crop diversification.

 

Several hindrances include: lack of awareness, lack of institutional framework in terms of non-existent or poor policies at national and local levels, information gaps, low investment in research and development and lack of private sector participation.

 

Over 95 percent of smallholder farms in Kenya show severe depletion of essential soil nutrients – nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Moreover, Kenya’s agricultural soils have dangerously low soil organic matter and exhibit worrying trends of acidification. This is according to a report by the National Accelerated Agricultural Input Access Programme (NAAIAP) released February 18, 2014.

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Professor Calestous Juma of the Harvard, Kennedy School interested in innovation for development in The New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation in Africa, says about 30 per cent of all African labour potential is used in subsistence agriculture. If the percentage of the population could have access to methods of improving their agricultural techniques, increasing production, and gaining the ability to transform agriculture into an income earning endeavour, African nations would benefit in terms of Gross Domestic product (GDP), standard of living, infrastructure, and economic stability.

Read: The Critical Role Markets Play In Access to Information in the Agricultural Value Chain

 

A look at the Economic Recovery Strategy as stated in the Vision 2030 for revitalizing agriculture with an aim of transforming Kenya into “middle Income Country” as well as Sustainable Development Goal 2 which aims to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture by increasing incomes and strengthening markets so that people can access food.

 

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