Hits, misses for agriculture a decade after devolution

Farmers sort through some avocados loaded onto a pickup. FILE PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU | NMG

According to the Constitution, agriculture is a devolved function, primarily because farming happens at the grassroots.

But a decade since devolution, Kenya’s agricultural sector is yet to feel the change.

In 2022, the top three exports from Kenya were tea, horticulture and coffee, earning the country Sh353 billion. This was a 44 percent increase from 2015 when exports stood at Sh244 billion.

But while Kenya is not exporting as much vegetables as it used to, it is shipping out more fruits than ever before — more than 130,000 metric tonnes, primarily avocado.

This has made the fruit one of the fastest-growing areas in horticulture, with export capacity doubling every five years.

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To date, more than 100,000 MT of avocado have been exported compared to the nearly one million MT produced.

The end of the Covid-19 pandemic saw Kenya exporting 30 percent more cut flowers — 210,000 tonnes — though the price wars have deflated the earnings by eight percent.

Despite the current prices, Kenya is producing 80 percent more sugarcane than in 2017, with the average yield per hectare reaching a high of 70 tonnes by 2021.

There are 40 percent more agricultural societies today, than in 2016, with dairy and multi-product societies leading the pack.

Oftentimes, these societies help in sourcing farm inputs and markets, an indicator of collaborations by smallholder farmers.

Pyrethrum production has soared more than five times from 147 tonnes to 886 tonnes of dry flowers.

The price per kilo of both dry flower extracts is also rising. Whereas the Mwea irrigation scheme remains Kenya’s main producer of rice, there are new regions making great headways.

Compared to 2017, Mwea produced 53 percent more rice, but Ahero, North Kano and Bunyula produced twice as much rice as they did in the 2017/18 season.

But Bura Irrigation Scheme takes the trophy with a 2,000 percent increase in production, from a paltry 470 tonnes to more than 10,000 tonnes in five short years.

Tana River Irrigation Scheme and Lower Kuja and Kano schemes also get notable mentions having begun production only three years ago but netting 8,000 tonnes combined.

In total, we are producing 71 percent more rice in the country than we did five years ago, with Mwea getting help from other irrigation schemes.

Notably, these statistics do not account for the depressed rain in the years 2021 and the early-mid year 2022.

The Economic Survey also indicates that Kenya is consuming 30 percent more than it did in 2016 but producing 14 percent more across the board.

It is also encouraging to note that the farmer registration programme that preceded the fertiliser subsidy had more gains than initially thought, giving the government data for about five million farmers.

Growth areas

It is becoming clear that avocado export is the new gold, with new markets like China and Malaysia informing the increased demand for our avocados globally.

The rice trials in the West and East of the country are also yielding great promise.

Particularly, the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) has made great strides in Migori and Kisumu counties, and its efforts are yielding good results.

Rice varieties, milling and marketing now need to receive investments to further cement these gains.

Beyond the staple foods of rice, maize and the occasional potatoes, great promise is still held by millet, sorghum and other easily adaptable cereals.

Their potential needs to be actualised, not necessarily for human consumption, but especially for animal feeds.

The collaboration between the NIA and the counties is proving a profitable venture. Consideration should be made for other arid and semi-arid areas, where soils can sustain good production, should irrigation water access be enhanced.

These regions also have lower human population densities, thus perfect for large-scale and mechanised farming.

And of course, water harvesting and storage remain critical services the government can offer.

Way forward

The Kenya Kwanza government has planned for more fertiliser subsidies; more cereals depots to both aid in commercial drying and storage of cereals, but also hopefully, offloading stock from the markets; implementing the warehouse receipt system, and encouraging tractor makers to assemble them locally and cheaper.

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But the winner seems to be the various county aggregation and industrial parks that are EPZs for agribusiness. If well implemented, this will catapult Kenya’s agriculture sector.

Kenya is already producing approximately 15 percent more than it did in 2016 and mechanisation can only make it better.

But the biggest question is, ten years later, are we better with agriculture being a devolved function or was there a misstep?

Some counties are also finding a better footing, collaborating with Kalro, irrigation agencies, and other critical national institutions, to customise their policies.

In some areas, it is yielding positive returns. Counties are yet to fully realise the benefits of technology in guiding their farmers, with a few having a running, comprehensive register of both farms and products.

The writer is a budding farmer who currently builds ICT networks.