Agricultural Production Declines 0.6% As Drought Bites

Kenya’s agricultural production in the third quarter of 2022 contracted by 0.6 percent compared to a growth of 0.6 percent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2021, the latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows.

The slowdown in the performance of the sector was mainly attributed to unfavorable weather conditions that prevailed in the first three quarters of 2022. The decline was reflected in vegetable exports and milk intake by processors which declined by 26.1 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively.

‘’Vegetable exports declined from 18,685.4 metric tonnes in the third quarter of 2021 to 13,807.8 metric tonnes in the quarter under review. The amount of milk delivered to processors reduced to 186.96 million liters in the third quarter of 2022 from 209.28 million liters recorded in the same quarter of 2021,’’ KNBS noted.

The sector’s performance was cushioned from a steeper contraction by improved production of fruits, coffee, and cane. During the period under review, fruit exports grew by 53.9 percent compared to a contraction of 19.9 percent in the third quarter of 2021.

Coffee production more than doubled to stand at 9,900.7 metric tonnes in the third quarter of 2022, up from 4,646.5 metric tonnes in the corresponding quarter of 2021. Similarly, cane deliveries rose by 6.0 percent in the third quarter of 2022 to stand at 648.2 metric tonnes.

The continued contraction in agricultural production warns Kenyans of a high cost of food in the coming months. Food prices remained high in the country through 2022, pushing up inflation figures to a high of 9.6 percent in October and 9.1 percent in December.

The former government in July introduced a 4-week subsidy on sifted maize flour intending to cut maize flour to 100 shillings. This was however unsuccessful as the subsidized flour remained widely unavailable in supermarkets.

The subsidies on food and petroleum products were however wiped out by the president Ruto-led administration terming them unsustainable for both consumers and the government’s fiscal operations. The new administration however retained the fertilizer subsidy to bring down the cost of production.

Under the subsidy program, farmers purchased 50kg of DAP at 2,800 shillings from 6,000 shillings. The subsidy saw Urea retail at 2,700 shillings, CAN 1,950, NPK 3,000, MOP 2500, and Sulphate Ammonia at 2,500 shillings, from 6,500, 3,900 and 4,900, 3,800, and 3,800 shillings, respectively.

Farmers, however, said the subsidized fertilizer was not accessed by a majority of them, and they were pushed to plant with insufficient inputs, a move that has a huge impact on the overall production in the year.

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