Six hurdles holding back potential of agriculture

Despite generating about half of the country’s GDP, many farmers grapple with problems every year that reduce their lives to more toil than reward.

Agriculture in Kenya mainly consists of small-scale farmers, which means they are the real backbone of our economy. Even so, they struggle to compete with nations with far less arable land like the Netherlands or far worse climate like Israel, due to problems in everything from production to sales.

According to the World Bank, growth is expected to be 5.9 per cent in 2020 and accelerate to 6 per cent in 2021. This will be driven by a recovery in farming and supported by private consumption and a pick-up in industrial activity.

President Uhuru Kenyatta in his Big Four agenda aims to achieve food security by 2022, but just how possible is it? What really ails our farmers?

Speaking to the Star in his Limuru office, agronomist Henry Kirui, a former agricultural officer, explained six challenges most farmers in Kenya deal with. Kirui is currently the principal, School of Agriculture, YMCA Limiru.

1 HIGH COST OF PRODUCTION

Kirui said the biggest contributor to farmer’s challenges is the high cost of production.

“Inputs are expensive. Animal feeds are expensive. Chick mash is almost Sh3,000 a bag,” he said.

“That is why eggs are coming from Uganda. They have to come from Uganda because they are cheaply produced. Even after paying taxes and transportation costs, they’re still cheap.

“But in Kenya, why is it expensive? It’s because of the high taxation levied on the inputs. The government should come up with ways of regulating the cost of farm inputs.”

2 INSUFFICIENT TRAINING

Another huge challenge that farmers are facing is lack of adequate training.

“Famers right now are lacking the necessary training. For instance, every day we hear about new technology advances, but farmers are not trained on it,” he said.

“They are not trained on how to deal with the current weather condition, the right variety of crops to grow. They don’t even know where they can get the necessary requirements, like the right seedlings.”

He said it is paramount that farmers are trained on things like the changing weather conditions for those relying on rain and the husbandry aspect of planting the correct variety of seeds.

3 INADEQUATE WATER

Despite the erratic weather, most farmers rely on rain-fed agriculture. With the rains delaying, failing or undersupplying every other year, water shortage is thus a perennial headache.

“When it comes to water, we have done very poorly. The government has a duty to manage natural resources to cope with climate change,” Kirui said.

The former agricultural officer said he is saddened and worried when he sees people farming in steep areas or near water resources because it is misusing natural resources, hence the unavailability of water all over the country.

He believes climate change will have a big significance in how we do agriculture, and that is why taking care of the environment, especially water catchment areas, is vital.

“In our days, the Agriculture Act that used to be there used to stipulate the areas where you should plant. For areas that were very steep, above 45 degrees, you couldn’t farm,” he said.

“But now we are not taking care of our environment. I think no one is serious. Go to the farms and rivers and see people cultivate next to the banks. There is a specific distance they should not farm around.

“Go to Tana River, you will find people farming tomatoes close the river banks, even in Kiambu. It’s all poor management. Before, there were river bank scouts, but they are no longer there.”

Kirui, however, believes the water crisis can be dealt with by encouraging and financing farmers to buy or build structures to harvest water.

The agronomist said the best solution is through drip irrigation, which uses minimal water but is costly to put up. He also believes if properly done, digging boreholes can also curb the shortage and maximise the use of underground water.

“Let the government ensure dams are there. Don’t tell us money used to construct them has been lost, yet we are paying taxes,” he said.

“Government has the capacity to build them. Give to the right people to construct them.”

4 INSUFFICIENT FUNDING

Even with the high cost of production, farmers still lack good sources of funding. Kirui said farmers are now left at the mercy of banks.

“The financing structure is weak. During our time, we had the Agriculture Finance Cooperation, but now you can only get a loan at banks, which have high interest rates,” he said.

He also called on the government to budget more funds in the Agriculture ministry to allow more extension programmes for farmers.

5 LACK OF MARKET

Kirui said a proposal by a leading dairy company that all farmers take their milk to cooperative societies would see farmers earn less compared to selling directly to the consumer.

“What they need to do is to ensure there is efficiency in the marketing system, so farmers are paid well and, therefore, farmers will sell to them. But in the villages, it is wrong to imagine everyone has access to places where packed milk is sold,” he said.

“Like here in the next 5km, we have no one selling packed milk, so are you telling us we have to go 10km to look for milk yet we have it in the house.”

The agronomist called for a system where farmers are directly linked to the consumers. He said most farmers are taken advantage of by brokers, who only “jubilate in their sweat”.

Kirui further faulted the government for coming in during the selling stage but not presenting themselves during the entire process from purchase to production.

“Let them sell to these hotels directly. Let them educate farmers on the quality, not strangle them. They should regulate quality,” he said.

Kirui also faulted the government for not facilitating the industrialisation of agriculture.

“After more than 50 years of independence, we still continue to export our coffee for processing to the final product. I think something is wrong,” he said.

“And when it comes back, it’s very expensive, we are unable to buy it. So the government needs to ensure that what we produce is locally manufactured at that international quality.”

He said it is necessary to integrate all the processes to ensure maximisation of inputs and to also create job opportunities.

6 LACK OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Kirui said important decisions affecting farmers are being made for them without their knowledge.

“Right now if you go around farms and ask them whether they know there’s a proposal by the government that crops should not be grown using manure, most will say it’s a lie because they did not involve us, yet we are stakeholders,” he said.

“I, however, doubt the academic credentials, as far as agriculture is concerned, because no amount of fertiliser will replace the value of manure. That’s promoting business of fertiliser-making companies, not the interests of farmers.”

Kirui believes before anything else, these challenges farmers contend with should first be addressed, if the government wants to achieve food security.

“There’s little attention in agriculture, that is why there’s hunger. If these issues are not addressed, we will not achieve food security.”