Factors Driving the Growth in Fertilizer Consumption in Kenya, 1990-2005: Sustaining the Momentum in Kenya and Lessons for Broader Replicability in Sub-Saharan Africa

The objective of this study is to identify the factors responsible for the impressive growth in fertilizer use in Kenya since market liberalization in the early 1990s. Over the past 10 years, fertilizer consumption has risen by 35%. So far, it is unknown whether smallholder farmers are responsible for this growth or whether it is being driven mainly by the large-scale and/or estate sectors. Moreover, it is important for policy makers to know whether the increased fertilizer consumption is being devoted to smallholder food crops or whether industrial crops such as tea and sugarcane are responsible for this growth. This study addresses these questions using nationwide survey data on smallholder fertilizer use patterns between 1996 and 2004. The study also explores whether the growth in fertilizer use in Kenya is attributed to any particular types of fertilizer delivery supply chains. A better understanding of the types of fertilizer distribution channels fueling the growth in consumption and the sustainability of these delivery systems can be of great help in guiding future policy to replicate successful supply chain models more widely in Kenya. Finally the study is meant to guide discussions on fertilizer marketing policy in Kenya in line with the new Economic Recovery Strategy (ERS).Food Security, Food Policy, Fertilizer Consumption, Kenya, Crop Production/Industries, Q18,

Interlinked Credit and Farm Intensification: Evidence from Kenya

This paper addresses the potential for interlinked credit/input/output marketing arrangements for cash crops to promote food crop intensification. Using panel survey data from Kenya, we estimate a household fixed-effects model of fertilizer use per hectare of food crops. Results indicate that households engaging in interlinked marketing programs for selected cash crops applied considerably more fertilizer on other crops (primarily cereals) not directly purchased by the cash crop trading firm. These findings suggest that, in addition to the direct stimulus that interlinked cash crop marketing arrangements can have on small farmer incomes, these institutional arrangements may provide spillover benefits for the productivity of farmers' other activities such as food cropping.Agricultural Finance,

Competitiveness of Kenyan and Ugandan Maize Production: Challenges for the Future

The purpose of this study is to assess the costs of maize production in Kenya and Uganda, starting from the fact that there is no single “cost of production” for maize. Cost of production varies according to region, the type of technology package employed, farmers’ management practices, and the weather. In light of this, the study disaggregates cost of production into seven region/technology categories, five in Kenya and two in eastern Uganda, in order to compare the relative competitiveness of maize among these regions and technology packages. Variations in cost of production within each region/technology category reflect differences in farmer management practices and micro-variability in soils and rainfall.Food Security, Food Policy, Kenya, Uganda, Maize Production, Crop Production/Industries, Q18,

Evolution of Kenya's Maize Marketing Systems in the Post-liberalization Era

The objectives of this paper are to: (1) identify the pattern of private sector investment in the maize marketing system since the reforms were initiated and evaluate the extent of private sector response to the reforms; (2) assess how maize prices and marketing margins have changed in response to the market reforms; (3) identify market-oriented mechanisms that have evolved in the current environment to reduce vulnerability of farmers, traders and consumers to price and expenditure instability; and (4) identify strategies that the government and private sector could implement to effectively promote the development of the evolving market oriented food systems.Food Security, Food Policy, Kenya, Maize, Crop Production/Industries, Marketing,

The Effects of Government Maize Marketing Policies on Maize Market Prices in Kenya

The Government of Kenya pursues maize marketing policy objectives through the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) which procures and sells maize at administratively determined prices, and stores maize as a contingency against future shortages. A private sector marketing channel competes with the NCPB and prices in this channel are set by supply and demand forces. This paper estimates the effects of NCPB activities on the historical path of private sector maize market prices in Kenya between 1989 and 2004. Results provide important insights into the historical effects of the NCPB, and will provide useful input into deliberations on the appropriate role for the NCPB in the future. It was not possible to use a fully structural econometric model to estimate the historical policy effects because of data limitations in Kenya, which are typical of many developing countries. Instead we use a reduced form vector autoregression model (VAR) and show how policy simulation results can be obtained from a fairly parsimonious VAR that can be estimated with sparse data and imposes only minimal identification restrictions. Results show that NCPB activities have stabilized maize market prices in Kenya, reduced price levels in the early 1990s, and raised price levels by roughly 20 percent between 1995 and 2004. Because roughly 60 percent of Kenya's rural households purchase maize while less than 30 percent sell maize, the government's maize marketing board operations have transferred income from urban consumers and most small rural households to maize selling farmers.Kenya, income transfers, maize policy, price stabilization, VAR, International Development, C22, O2, Q13, Q18,

Do Farmers Really Benefit from High Food Prices? Balancing Rural Interests in Kenya's Maize Pricing and Marketing Policy

Published by Tegemeo Institute for Agricultural Policy and Developmentfood security, food policy, Kenya, maize, Crop Production/Industries, Marketing, Q18,

Trends and Patterns in Fertilizer Use by Smallholder Farmers in Kenya, 1997-2007

This study uses nationwide household panel survey data from 1996/97 to 2006/07 to examine trends in fertilizer use on maize by smallholder maize growers. The paper also compares these findings with fertilizer use rates according to other recent surveys in Kenya to assess comparability. We also examine the correlation between household fertilizer use and indicators of welfare such as wealth and landholding size. In addition, we use econometric techniques applied to household survey data to identify the main household and community characteristics associated with fertilizer purchases. Lastly, the study considers alternative policy strategies for maintaining smallholders’ access to fertilizer in the current context of substantially higher world fertilizer prices.Fertilizer, Africa, Malawi, Kenya, Small Holders, Crop Production/Industries, Q13,

Behavioral flexibility vs. rules of thumb: how do grey squirrels deal with conflicting risks?

In order to test how flexibly animals are able to behave when making trade-offs that involve assessing constantly changing risks, we examined whether wild Eastern grey squirrels showed flexibility of behavioral responses in the face of variation in two conflicting risks, cache pilferage and predation. We established that cache pilferage risk decreased with distance from cover, and was thus negatively correlated with long-term predation risk. We then measured changes in foraging and food caching behavior in the face of changes in the risk of predation and food theft over a short time-scale. We found that, overall, squirrels move further away from the safety of cover when they cache, compared to when they forage, as predicted by pilferage risk. However, there was no effect of immediate pilferage or predation risk (i.e. the presence of potential predators or pilferers) on the distance from cover at which they cached, and only a slight increase in forage distance when predation risk increased. These results suggest that ‘rules of thumb’ based on static cues may be more cost-effective for assessing risk than closely tracking changes over time in the way suggested by a number of models of risk assessment

UTILITY OF GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES IN TECHNICAL, VOCATIONAL AND TRAINING INSTITUTIONS ON STUDENT ENROLMENT IN BUNGOMA COUNTY, KENYA

The Government of Kenya lays great emphasis on Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for her social and economic growth in the 21st century. Her estimated requirements for an effectual technical workforce, is in hundreds of thousands by the year 2030. The prerequisite for this milestone is pegged on attainment of a gross enrolment ratio of 20% in TVET institutions annually, whose enrolment however, continues to be far below targeted numbers. It was against these facts that the current study sought to investigate the government initiatives in TVET institutions on student enrolment in Bungoma County, Kenya. The study targeted 82 TVET institutions, 82 principals, 714 lecturers, 9098 students. The study employed proportionate stratified random sampling, simple random sampling and census to select the TVET institutions and respondents from the 9 sub-counties in Bungoma County. From the 82 TVET institutions in Bungoma County, proportionate stratified random sampling was used to select 65 TVET institutions for the study. Data collection tools comprised questionnaires for primary data which had closed-ended. The study recommended that all TVET institutions and be should utilized for learning and administration in the institutions. Article visualizations

Behavioural responses of Eastern grey squirrels, Sciurus carolinensis, to cues of risk while foraging

Lisa Leaver University of Exeter Psychology Washington Singer Exeter Devon EX4 4QG UKArticleCopyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Previous studies have shown that Eastern grey squirrels modify their behaviour while foraging to offset risks of social and predatory costs, but none have simultaneously compared whether such modifications are performed at a cost to foraging. The present study directly compares how grey squirrels respond to cues of these risks while foraging. We simulated social risk and predatory risk using acoustic playbacks of stimuli that grey squirrels might be exposed to at a foraging patch: calls of conspecifics, heterospecifics (competitor and non-competitor) and predators. We found that grey squirrels responded to predator, heterospecific competitor and conspecific playbacks by altering their foraging and vigilance behaviours. Foraging was most disrupted by increased vigilance when we played calls of predators. Squirrels' response to calls of heterospecific competitors did not differ from their response to conspecific calls, and they resumed foraging more quickly after both compared to predator calls: whereas they showed little response to calls of non-competitor heterospecifics and a white noise control. We conclude that squirrels respond differentially to calls made by conspecifics, heterospecific competitors and predators, with the most pronounced response being to calls of predators. We suggest that squirrels may view conspecific and corvid vocalisations as cues of potential conflict while foraging, necessitating increased vigilance.Exeter Graduate Fellow scholarshi