Public Outreach
Tamara Leigh
Growing beyond subsistence farming
PART 1 - EXPOSURE-4-DEVELOPMENT TOUR
MY WEEK IN Kenya began in a
slaughterhouse and ended surrounded by
roses. They were fitting bookends for an
eye-opening journey, filled with the
challenges, frustrations and hopes of
farmers and agriculture in a country with
so much potential and too few structures
in place to help realize it.
For six days, I bounced, slid and at times
sputtered down the highways and back
roads of Kenya with a bus load of fellow
agricultural journalists from around the
world. The trip, known as the Exposure-4Development media tour, was organized by
Agriterra, a Dutch organization working to
build capacity with farmers and farm
organizations across Africa.
From the capital region of Nairobi to the
cradle of colonial settlement in the Central
Highlands, and through the magnificent
Rift Valley, we met with farmers, extension
workers, processors, social entrepreneurs,
and bankers. What emerged was a
snapshot of Kenyan agriculture today, a
glimpse of the future that could be, and a
taste of the challenges that Kenya's
farmers will face getting there.
Agriculture is one of the primary drivers of
the Kenyan economy. Despite an alarming
lack of infrastructure, it accounts for 25
percent of the country’s gross domestic
product (GDP), and employs 75 percent of
working age Kenyans. Cash crops like tea,
coffee and tobacco dominate exports along
with a horticulture sector that supplies
roses and other flowers to European and
American markets.
SUBSISTENCE FARMING
When it comes to food production,
however, farmers are struggling to grow
beyond a history of subsistence farming. In
many ways, production here is a glimpse
back in time. It is an industry dominated by
small hold farmers with less than five
acres, where labour is largely done by hand
- whether it's breaking ground, planting,
weeding and harvesting, or gathering
forage and milking dairy cows.
The livestock sector is supplied largely by
the Massai, a tribe of nomadic pastoralists
who range throughout southern Kenya and
northern Tanzania with their cattle, sheep
and goats.
Cereal production is synonymous with
maize, the main food crop in Kenya and
much of East Africa. Maize accounts for 90
percent of the cereals planted, while
wheat, sorghum, barley, millet and rice
account for the other ten percent.
JUSTUS MONDA, VICE CHAIR OF
THE KENYA SMALL SCALE
CEREAL GROWERS
36
Despite a persistent demand for maize,
margins are very slim. A lack of storage
capacity, poor transportation infrastructure,
and price volatility are major barriers, but
the biggest challenge to overcome is
changing the attitude towards farming.
"Growing maize is not a business; it's a way
of life. People believe this is all that is
available to them," says Justus Monda, vice
chair of the Kenya Small Scale Cereal
Growers and deputy national chairman of
the Kenya National Federation of Agricultural
Producers (KENFAP). "This is a concept
that we need to change. Farming should be
a business, and for it to be a business there
are channels we need to follow."
CHANGING SYSTEMS
Under the colonial system, markets were
managed by the colonial government.
Following independence, the national
government continued to play a significant
role. In the ’80s and early ’90s, the
government entered into protocols with
the World Bank without involving the
farmers and preparing them for what the
structural adjustment meant for them.
"I see it as a problem at two levels," Monda
explains. "At the government level, we
Despite a persistent demand for maize, margins are very slim. A
lack of storage capacity, poor transportation infrastructure, and
price volatility are major barriers, but the biggest challenge to
overcome is changing the attitude towards farming.
inherited a colonial system where markets
across the board were structured under
the same system. When the market opened
in the name of liberalization, farmers didn't
understand the new marketing channels."
"On the side of the farmers, we have not
reconciled our thinking to see what we can
do, how competitive we can be, how we
need to organize in order to meet the
current status," he adds.
Recently, small groups of farmers have
been banding together to form "self-help
groups" - miniature cooperative-style
groups that are negotiating contracts with
schools and other institutions to buy their
maize before they plant.
Monda grows maize and sorghum on his
2.5 acre plot, and has established
contracts with three schools in his region
to supply maize. These arrangements give
him greater control of his crop planning
and prices. He also works with other
ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER
farmers in his area to ensure he can get
the quality and quantity of maize required
by the schools.
"If you produce first and then discuss price
when the produce is ready, that's not
business, it's subsistence. This is the cycle
we have to break," he says.
According to Monda, there are two things
that need to be addressed in order for the
cereals sector to move forward - food security
for small scale producers and a business
model that works in the current context.
"For the last ten years the Kenyan
government has tried to see if the
systems can be structured to
accommodate a changing world. This is
why organizations like KENFAP look at
what are the gaps that the farmers need
to fill in order to compete in the global
market. We need to be organized locally
and nationally so we can move out
beyond the borders," he says. ä
JANUARY 2013
37