Strategies for adapting to climate change in rural Sub-Saharan Africa

The ten ASARECA member countries (Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda) have adopted, or are planning to adopt, a range of climate change adaptation strategies in agriculture (see Table 1 for a summary). Of the 26 strategies mentioned, only two are common to all 10 countries, while five more are common to five or more. The strategies common to all member countries include the development and promotion of drought-tolerant and early-maturing crop species and exploitation of new and renewable energy sources. Most countries have areas that are classifiable as arid or semiarid, hence the need to develop drought-tolerant and early-maturing crops. Strangely, only one country recognizes the conservation of genetic resources as an important strategy although this is also potentially important for dealing with drought. Biomass energy resources account for more than 70 percent of total energy consumption in ASARECA member countries. To mitigate the potential adverse effects of biomass energy depletion, ASARECA countries plan to harness new and renewable energy sources, including solar power, wind power, hydro and geothermal sources, and biofuels. Eight of the 10 countries cite the promotion of rainwater harvesting as an important adaptation strategy, either small scale with small check dams or large scale with large dam projects. The five measures that are common to more than five countries are (a) the conservation and restoration of vegetative cover in degraded and mountain areas; (b) reduction of overall livestock numbers through sale or slaughter; (c) cross-breeding, zero-grazing, and acquisition of smaller livestock (for example, sheep or goats); (d) adoption of traditional methods of natural forest conservation and food use; and (e) community-based management programs for forests, rangelands, and national parks. The promotion of environmentally friendly investments and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects that can be funded through carbon trading is a feature of only one country. Three examples of strategies that warrant greater region wide collaboration are the conservation of genetic materials, development and promotion of drought-tolerant species, and soil conservation. To date, the national adaptation policies of only three countries have indicated that they carry out these strategies.Adaptation, ASARECA, Climate change, NAPA, Natural resource management, PRSP,

Effects of Market Reforms on Irish Potato Price Volatility in Nyandarua District, Kenya

This paper evaluates the effects of market reform policies on the volatility of Irish potato prices in Kenya through an analysis of a 20 year monthly time series data set from Nyandarua district using an autoregressive econometric approach. The empirical results show that there has been a rise in Irish potato prices and lowering of price volatility after the implementation of market reform policies. The real prices exhibit seasonal variations around an upward trend with the prices being depressed during the harvesting period. The price risk premia is found to be negative revealing that the cost of carrying out Irish potato business declined, and farmers were better off with the implementation of the reforms. The collection and distribution of price information, storage of Irish potatoes during periods of glut, improvement in productivity and use of commodity exchange markets can help to reduce price volatility. Keywords: Price volatility, Market reforms, Autoregressive mode

Farmer empowerment in agriculture and its association with smallholder farm incomes in Kenya

Poverty in its various forms is widespread among smallholder farmers, including income poverty, rendering interventions that improve household income relevant. We employ a linear model on cross-sectional data collected from October to December 2015, with the preceding 12 months as the reference period. The data was from 835 smallholder farmers in Kenya to assess the effect of farmer empowerment in agriculture on farm income. This is a departure from numerous previous studies, which considered the intra-household empowerment of women relative to men on the assumption that men are empowered, which may not always be the case – as we show in this study. The results show that farmer empowerment in agriculture increases per capita farm incomes. Unlike male farmers, who benefit from the overall empowerment in agriculture, female farmers do not, possibly due to constraints in complementary drivers of farm income such as access to productive resources. Interestingly, improving the income domain for female farmers increases their farm incomes more than for their male counterparts. We conclude that farmer empowerment in agriculture is a necessary driver of farm incomes, with the production, leadership and income domains being the viable impact pathways. Thus, development interventions should target specific empowerment domains while controlling for sex differences among the target farmers

Farmers’ perceptions of commercial insect-based feed for sustainable livestock production in Kenya

This study evaluated farmer’s perceptions of commercial insect-based feed (IBF) products and assessed factors that would influence adoption. Findings show that over 90% of the farmers were willing to use IBF. The principal component analysis (PCA) identified feed performance; social acceptability of the use of insects in feed formulation; feed versatility and marketability of livestock products reared on IB as key attributes that would inform farmers’ purchase decisions. Public partnerships with resource-endowed farmers and farmer groups are recommended to improve knowledge sharing on IBF.Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR

An Economic Analysis of the Impacts of Trade Liberalization on Kenya's Maize Sector

Kenya like most other developing countries has been reforming her staple grain markets since 1986. In these sectors, market reforms were initiated as a key component of the economy-wide structural adjustment programmes (SAPs). The SAPs were later strengthened and made irreversible by Kenya’s commitments at the multilateral trade negotiations. The reforms were envisaged to improve the sectors terms of trade as a means of stimulating food production. However, the impacts of trade reforms on Kenya’s maize sector remain controversial. Thus, there is need for empirical research to inform government interventions in this sector. This study evaluates the impacts of trade liberalization and their distributional effects on stakeholders in Kenya’s maize sector. Specifically, the objectives are threefold: to assess the price responsiveness of producers, wholesalers and consumers, to quantify the market and welfare impacts of trade liberalization and to draw policy recommendations. The study uses recent developments in time series econometrics based on cointegration techniques and error correction models (ECM) to estimate price responses. To quantify the impacts of trade liberalization, a partial equilibrium model (PEM), which accounts for market interrelationships at the farm, wholesale and retail levels is developed. The elasticities of supply and demand were estimated using annual cereal production and consumption data for the period 1963-2005 from Kenya’s statistical office. In all cases, the estimated models performed well on theoretical and statistical grounds. All own-price elasticities had the expected signs and were statistically significant. On the basis of the Marshallian elasticities, cereals can be considered as necessities in Kenya. All long-run own-price acreage elasticities were elastic. Similarly, the long-run own-price elasticities at the intermediate level were elastic. The elastic price responses imply that cereal producer responses in Kenya are quite high, suggesting a significant potential for the sector’s response to trade liberalization. The results from the trade policy simulations suggest that tariff reductions yield price decreases across the three market levels. The declining prices increase maize consumption but reduce domestic production. Consequently, consumer surplus increases while producer surplus decreases. However, the gain in consumer surplus is not sufficient to compensate the loss in producer surplus. Thus, Kenya’s implementation of the Uruguay Round trade liberalization commitments leaves the maize sector worse off. Any further tariff reductions without compensating maize producers cannot be recommended based on the compensation principle

A review of data sources, Poverty Reduction Strategy Programs (PRSPs) and National Adaptation Plans for Agriculture (NAPAs) in ASARECA member countries

The ten ASARECA member countries (Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda) have adopted, or are planning to adopt, a range of climate change adaptation strategies in agriculture (see Table 1 for a summary). Of the 26 strategies mentioned, only two are common to all 10 countries, while five more are common to five or more. The strategies common to all member countries include the development and promotion of drought-tolerant and early-maturing crop species and exploitation of new and renewable energy sources. Most countries have areas that are classifiable as arid or semiarid, hence the need to develop drought-tolerant and early-maturing crops. Strangely, only one country recognizes the conservation of genetic resources as an important strategy although this is also potentially important for dealing with drought. Biomass energy resources account for more than 70 percent of total energy consumption in ASARECA member countries. To mitigate the potential adverse effects of biomass energy depletion, ASARECA countries plan to harness new and renewable energy sources, including solar power, wind power, hydro and geothermal sources, and biofuels. Eight of the 10 countries cite the promotion of rainwater harvesting as an important adaptation strategy, either small scale with small check dams or large scale with large dam projects. The five measures that are common to more than five countries are (a) the conservation and restoration of vegetative cover in degraded and mountain areas; (b) reduction of overall livestock numbers through sale or slaughter; (c) cross-breeding, zero-grazing, and acquisition of smaller livestock (for example, sheep or goats); (d) adoption of traditional methods of natural forest conservation and food use; and (e) community-based management programs for forests, rangelands, and national parks. The promotion of environmentally friendly investments and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects that can be funded through carbon trading is a feature of only one country. Three examples of strategies that warrant greater region wide collaboration are the conservation of genetic materials, development and promotion of drought-tolerant species, and soil conservation. To date, the national adaptation policies of only three countries have indicated that they carry out these strategies.Non-PRIFPRI1EPT

A quantative assesment of COMESA customs union

The member countries of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) had agreed to launch a customs union by December 2008 under which a common external tariff (CET) would have been imposed on all goods and services imported from outside COMESA. Even though the creation of the COMESA customs union was not achieved, it could have been a decisive step towards bolstering economic growth and alleviating poverty in the region. Not withstanding the failure to create a COMESA customs union, the welfare impacts of customs union are ambiguous. In addition, the welfare impacts of the customs union on the individual COMESA member countries are not well understood. It is therefore important to undertake studies that generate information on the welfare impacts of the imposition of a CET within the COMESA region.Non-PRIFPRI1; ReSAKS

the case study of Kenya's tea industry

Non-PRIFPRI2; ASTIEPT

Transmission of global wheat prices to domestic markets in Kenya: A cointegration approach

This paper evaluates the extent to which changes in international wheat prices are transmitted to domestic markets in Kenya using an error correction model (ECM) that employs monthly producer price data for the period 2002 to 2020. Domestic wheat markets in Kenya were found to be strongly integrated while, international wheat markets were cointegrated with domestic prices at the port of Mombasa. The long-run elasticity of price transmission was estimated at 0.91, which implies that 91% of the changes in international wheat prices are transmitted to domestic markets in Kenya. The speed of adjustment was estimated at -0.069, which implies that it takes about 14 months for the changes in the international wheat price to be fully transmitted to the Kenyan domestic market. Wheat farmers in Kenya seem to be insulated from international price shocks given the long period of time it takes for domestic markets to adjust to international price changes. Even though not explicitly analysed, government border policies, market and infrastructure impediments seem to be underlying causes of the incomplete price pass-through, along with the low speeds of adjustments. Our analysis suggests that the main constraint to a complete pass-through is the existence of price-setting power at the producer level of the wheat market in Kenya. Investments in infrastructure development and the promotion of liberal trade policies can improve the transmission of international wheat price signals to domestic markets in Kenya