Decentralization and Access to Agricultural Extension Services in Kenya

The form and content of decentralization has dominated development discourse and public sector reform agenda in Kenya in the last two decades. The case of agricultural extension service presents decentralization in a difficult context partly due to lack of information on its possible diverse impacts especially on resource poor farmers. This paper explores the effect of decentralization of agricultural extension on access, accountability and empowerment, and efficiency of delivering services to farmers. Secondary data, participatory research methods and primary data from a random sample of 250 farmers were used. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis and logistic regression. The results show that there is improved access to extension services with increasing level of decentralization. Farmers from areas with higher decentralized extension also showed enhanced level of awareness of different channels for delivery of extension services. This improved knowledge, being an important component of empowerment of the farming community, resulted from the increase of service providers, who displayed synergy in their multiple methods of operation. Public delivery channels were the most affordable and were also ranked first for quality. Income, literacy levels, distance from towns and access to telephone significantly influenced access to extension services. Gender of the household-head was a key determinant for seeking out extension services in areas with high concentration of agricultural activities. For a pluralistic system to work there is need for better co-ordination between the various groups. Although there is evidence of partnership and synergy between service providers, there appeared to be little effective co-ordination of the groups involved. The government and other stakeholders should work towards developing a strong institutional framework that will guide and enhance this mutually beneficial partnership.extension services, decentralization, partnerships, policy reform, Kenya, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Strategies to Promote Market-Oriented Smallholder Agriculture in Developing Countries: A Case of Kenya

Smallholder Agriculture is key to livelihoods of many rural households in developing and transition economies. In Kenya, small farms account for over 75% of total agricultural production and nearly 50% of the marketed output. Despite favourable trends in global development drivers such as rising population, per capita incomes and emerging urban dietary preferences, most smallholder farmers remain poor. This study sought to characterize agricultural commercialization trends, identify and prioritize constraints to participation in markets, analyse determinants of percentage of output sold, and explore strategies to promote market-oriented production. A participatory Rapid Rural Appraisal approach, household survey and a Truncated Regression model were used. A sample of 224 farmers: 76 of them growing maize, 77 involved in horticulture (kales and tomatoes) and 71 practising dairy, were interviewed in one peri-urban and one rural district (Kiambu and Kisii, respectively). Results show that in rural areas, lower levels of output are sold and fewer farmers participate in markets compared to the peri-urban areas. Opportunities for profitable commercial agriculture are observed in growing demand, emerging food preferences and intensive farming. At village-level, market participation is hampered by poor quality and high cost of inputs, high transportation costs, high market charges and unreliable market information. At the household-level, the determinants of percentage of output sold are producer prices, market information arrangement, output, distance to the market, share of non-farm income and gender. Strategies are suggested to improve rural input supply, institutional and regulatory framework, enhance value addition and strengthen market information provision.Smallholder Agriculture, Market Participation, Commercialization, Kenya, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use, Marketing, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Social Protection and Agricultural Development in Kenya

This paper focuses on social protection programs in Kenya’s agriculture. A case study approach was used where three cases were examined: (a) emergency seed distribution in the arid and semi-arid lands and remote areas which are inadequately served by the formal seed sector, (b) hunger and safety net programme in northern Kenya, and (c) Njaa Marufuku Kenya. The study found that while social protection programs/strategies are necessary to cushion vulnerable groups from covariate risk, these have not been properly domesticated in the Kenyan policy and legal frameworks. In fact, the national response to shocks and stresses among the vulnerable groups has largely been ad hoc. Emergency interventions have been implemented in rather haphazard and knee-jerk approach with minimal strategic policy focus. And even where social safety nets have been implemented, these have largely been untargeted, uncoordinated and humanitarian in nature. Hence, although some efforts have been made in the past to entrench social protection in the Kenyan society (e.g., the Equity Bill, the Affirmative Action Bill and the Constitutional Review), these initiatives have suffered from lack of political goodwill, ethnic and class chauvinism and political patronage. There is therefore need to for the Kenyan society as a whole to re-define its strategic direction with regard to empowering poor households to enable them cope with shocks. The starting point would be to design a comprehensive social protection policy which is now in progress.DfI

The Influence of Social Capital on Natural Resource Management in Marginal Areas of Kenya

This paper analyzes the influence of social capital on the farmers' perception of the soil erosion problem and the level of investments in soil conservation in marginal areas of Kenya. It uses data from a survey of 321 households in Machakos and Taita-Taveta Districts. A Heckman's two-step model is applied to assess the influence of social capital on investments in soil conservation by farmers. Results show that the education level of the household head, slope of farmers' fields, proportion of off-farm income, and the status of soil erosion are significant determinants of the likelihood of farmers recognizing soil erosion as an important problem. Household size, slope, land tenure security, membership diversity, age of household head, farm size per capita and membership in groups influence investments in soil control measures such as terraces. The effects, however, are location-specific. The policy challenge is to establish and strengthen social capital elements that have a strong influence on communities undertaking soil conservation measures to promote sustainable agriculture, and improve land tenure security.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Will Small-Scale Dairy Producers in Kenya Disappear Due to Economies of Scale in Production?

There is growing policy concern regarding the competitiveness of small-scale livestock production in the wake of the contemporary livestock revolution in many developing countries. In Kenya, this debate has focused on economies of scale and the undue influence of policy distortions on promoting the scaling up of dairy farms. This paper seeks to investigate economies of scale in Kenyan dairy in terms of relative profit efficiency at different levels of output, and identify policy and technology options to help small-scale farmers develop solutions to the challenges of competition. Data were collected from 204 dairy producers of different farm sizes in rural Kiambu and Thika, and urban Nairobi districts and a stochastic frontier model approach was used to analyze the determinants of profitability and inefficiency. Unit profitability per farm ranged between US$0.13 - US$0.16 per liter of milk with no significant variation across scales of farm. However, at all given levels of scale of farm, inefficiency significantly contributed to variability in profitability across farms. Scale had no significant effect on efficiency, confirming the relative competitiveness of small-scale dairy producers. Dairy farmers with commercial poultry achieved higher relative profit efficiency as poultry waste was fed to cattle. Rural location relative to Nairobi also increased efficiency. Linking rural areas and major market centre with good roads, strengthening of farmers' co-operative societies and exploring use of cheaper raw materials in the manufacture of concentrate feeds may strengthen the competitive position small dairy farms versus large ones.Dairy Production, Stochastic Production Frontier, Efficiency, Profitability, Livestock Production/Industries, C21, Q12,

Social Capital and Soil Erosion Control in Agriculturally Marginal Areas of Kenya: The Case of Machakos and Taita-Taveta Districts

This paper evaluates the farmers perception of the soil erosion problem, and identifies and analyses social capital elements that motivate households to actively participate in soil conservation in agricultural production process. The data used in the study was generated using a structured questionnaire in a survey that covered 321 households in Kenyas semi arid districts of Machakos and Taita-Taveta Districts. Two modelling strategies were used: A Probit model was used to estimate the likelihoods of factors that may influence farmers perception of soil erosion problem, and a Tobit to estimate parameters of factors that influence terracing intensity. The results indicate that although perception of the soil erosion problem is relatively high in the study sites, its effect on soil conservation investments is not significant. In Machakos, the significant determinants of terracing intensity include land tenure, crop area, household size, and membership diversity whereas in Taita-Taveta they include age of household head and consumer-worker ratio. Results from the aggregated data show that lagged crop output, group membership density and diversity, cognitive social capital and location significantly influence the terracing intensity on farm household fields. The policy challenge is to establish and strengthen social capital elements that have a strong influence on communities undertaking soil erosion control measures for sustainable agriculture and rural development.Social capital, Marginal areas, Soil erosion, Perception, Two-step estimation, Kenya, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, C24, D23, Q15, Z13,

Soil carbon policies in Ethiopia and Kenya: evolution, challenges, and opportunities

The policy brief provides a general statues of the soil carbon policies in Kenya and Ethiopi

Fertilizer use in semi-arid areas of Kenya: analysis of smallholder farmers' adoption behavior under liberalized markets

This paper analyzes the factors influencing farm level fertilizer adoption decisions under an era of liberalized markets in Kenya using a Tobit regression model. The level of education of the household head, experience using fertilizer, growing a cash crop, availability of fertilizer in rural retail outlets, availability in small packages, and land pressure positively influenced fertilizer use, while the size of family labour and location in the drier semi-arid zone were negatively associated with fertilizer use. The paper concludes with policy and research implications for strategies aimed at achieving greater fertilizer use on smallholder farms

Economic analysis of crop-livestock integration: The case of the Ethiopian highlands

This study is concerned with the impact of crop-livestock integration on food production and farm incomes in highland farming systems in Ethiopia. Structural food deficits and rural poverty are important household and economy-wide problems. The study uses empirical data that were obtained from 900 rural households in 23 villages in the low potential cereal livestock agro-ecological zone of the Ethiopian highlands. Using stratified random sampling, data were collected through direct measurements, structured formal questionnaires, field observations, group interviews and from secondary sources. Statistical techniques (e.g., principal components) and whole-farm linear programming have been applied to complete the analysis

The broiler meat system in Nairobi, Kenya: using a value chain framework to understand animal and product flows, governance and sanitary risks

Livestock food systems play key subsistence and income generation roles in low to middle income countries and are important networks for zoonotic disease transmission. The aim of this study was to use a value chain framework to characterize the broiler chicken meat system of Nairobi, its governance and sanitary risks. A total of 4 focus groups and 8 key informant interviews were used to collect cross-sectional data from: small-scale broiler farmers in selected Nairobi peri-urban and informal settlement areas; medium to large integrated broiler production companies; traders and meat inspectors in live chicken and chicken meat markets in Nairobi. Qualitative data were collected on types of people operating in the system, their interactions, sanitary measures in place, sourcing and selling of broiler chickens and products. Framework analysis was used to identify governance themes and risky sanitary practices present in the system. One large company was identified to supply 60% of Nairobi’s day-old chicks to farmers, mainly through agrovet shops. Broiler meat products from integrated companies were sold in high-end retailers whereas their low value products were channelled through independent traders to consumers in informal settlements. Peri-urban small-scale farmers reported to slaughter the broilers on the farm and to sell carcasses to retailers (hotels and butcheries mainly) through brokers (80%), while farmers in the informal settlement reported to sell their broilers live to retailers (butcheries, hotels and hawkers mainly) directly. Broiler heads and legs were sold in informal settlements via roadside vendors. Sanitary risks identified were related to lack of biosecurity, cold chain and access to water, poor hygiene practices, lack of inspection at farm slaughter and limited health inspection in markets. Large companies dominated the governance of the broiler system through the control of day-old chick production. Overall government control was described as relatively weak leading to minimal official regulatory enforcement. Large companies and brokers were identified as dominant groups in market information dissemination and price setting. Lack of farmer association was found to be system-wide and to limit market access. Other system barriers included lack of space and expertise, leading to poor infrastructure and limited ability to implement effective hygienic measures. This study highlights significant structural differences between different broiler chains and inequalities in product quality and market access across the system. It provides a foundation for food safety assessments, disease control programmes and informs policy-making for the inclusive growth of this fast-evolving sector