Agriculture in Kenya

Potatoes harvested from a Kenyan farm

Agriculture in Kenya continues to dominate Kenya's economy, although only 15-17 percent of Kenya’s total land area has sufficient fertility and rainfall to be farmed, and only 7-8 percent can be classified as first-class land.^[1][2] In 2006, almost 75 percent of working Kenyans made their living by farming, compared with 80 percent in 1980.^[1] About one-half of Kenya's total agricultural output is non-marketed subsistence production.^[1] Agriculture is also the largest contributor to Kenya’s gross domestic product (GDP).^[1] In 2005, agriculture, including forestry and fishing, accounted for about 24 percent of the GDP, as well as for 18 percent of wage employment and 50 percent of revenue from exports.^[1]

Farming is the most important economic sector in Kenya, although less than 8 percent of the land is used for crop and feed production, and less than 20 percent is suitable for cultivation. Kenya is a leading producer of tea and coffee, as well as the third-leading exporter of fresh produce, such as cabbages, onions and mangoes. Small farms grow most of the corn and also produce potatoes, bananas, beans and peas.

Sweet potatoes

The most common varieties that Kenyan sweet potato farmers grow are white, red and purple. The yellow-fleshed sweet potato's popularity has increased, due to nutritionists promoting it as a source of vitamin A, which is lacking in the Kenyan diet.^[3] The vitamin A deficiency is not fatal, but it leaves the immune system depleted and susceptible to measles, malaria and diarrhea. The deficiency also may cause blindness.^[3]

Despite efforts to develop completely resistant plants, little has been achieved so far. Therefore, attention is turning to pseudo-resistance, which includes mitigating weevil damage through deeper storage roots formation and short-season varieties, which are exposed to weevil infestation for less time.^[4] Where farmers piecemeal their sweet potato harvest, there can be up to a 10 percent crop loss due to disease and weevils. Beetle pests can completely destroy sweet potato plantations.

Conventional growing

Women smallholder farmers in Kenya

Because of pests, disease and decreased soil nutrients, farmers are rotating their sweet potato plants as much as possible, which means using a field for sweet potato plants only once every 5 years, and not having the crop in the same field for two consecutive years. “Planting rice between two sweet potato crops have long been suggested." When sweet potatoes and rice crops were planted in fields adjacent to each other, the sweet potato weevil infestation level dropped. “Reduced weevil damage was observed when sweet potato was intercropped with proso millet and sesame, but sweet potato yield was also considerably reduced. The sweet potato has been found to inhibit germination of proso millet." This crop rotation and growing pattern is very common in Africa.

Weed control requires many hours of manual labor. Uncontrolled weed growth reduces crop yield by as much as 60 percent. “Some farmers solve this problem by cultivating a smaller area, but this also reduces total yields. Herbicides are too expensive for most smallholders."^[2] When the sweet potato plant is propagated a number of consecutive times, the yield decreases and virus build-up increases. "Viruses can be removed by heat treatment. The process usually increases the yield product of both vine and roots, from 20 percent to 200 percent, depending on the severity of the original virus infestation".

Organic growing

An 8-year comparative study, the Sustainable Agriculture Farming Systems project, compared conventional farming systems with differing practices of crop rotation and soil substance.^[5] The results showed that organic methods had yields in the same range as conventional systems for all crops that were studied, and for some crop studies, the yield level was higher for organics than conventional systems. The organic systems were noted for “increases in the organic carbon content of the soil and larger pools of stored nutrients, each of which is critical for long-term fertility maintenance."^[5]

Sweet potato is typically grown organically in Africa. To decrease labor for weeding, farmers interviewed by Macharia (2004) expressed preference for planting on mounds after trying ridges. Farmers found mound methods yielded larger tubers, and easier to use without new fertilizers or chemicals.^[6] Organic farming includes crop rotation, and mulches to control pests and soil fertility.

Organic farming by the Rothamsted and Rodale experiments have shown that “manure-based systems can provide enough nitrogen not only to sustain high crop yields but also to build up the nitrogen storage in the soil".^[5] According, to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Kenya had no percentage of certified organic cropland in 2003, yet farmers use organic methods.^{[citation needed]} .

Genetically-altered growing

Many farmers in Kenya refer to genetically modified (GM) maize delivered by the US as the Trojan horse.^[7] GMs are currently illegal in Kenya, although the US continues to send modified maize to Kenya in the form of aid.^[8]

Kenyans and other Africans, like Malawians and Zimbabweans, grind maize into flour before distributing it. Some activists have said that the US is purposefully sending GM food as aid to undercut the organic export market and cause Europe to start buying from the US. Other farmers may not be aware of GMs, and others are, as Celeb said, simply too poor. If a farmer uses the chemicals, the soil becomes poor. “To date, over 30 million hectares of transgenic crops have been grown and no human health problems associated specifically with the ingestion of transgenic crops or their products have been identified”.^[9] although amount of transgenic crop says nothing of implications for human health and since transgenic crop is recently been introduced. Not enough time has passed to give a clear verdict for the future.

Million-acre scheme

David Gordon Hines was seconded by the UK 1966-1972 to advise the Kenya minister of agriculture about the "Million-acre scheme" to buy expatriate farms mostly in the Kenya Highlands.^[10]

Agricultural research by government institutions

The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI)^[11] is mandated with relevant research. KARI is the national institution bringing together research programmes in food crops, horticultural and industrial crops, livestock and range management, land and water management, and socio-economics. KARI promotes sound agricultural research, technology generation and dissemination to ensure food security through improved productivity and environmental conservation.

KARI was established in 1979 as a semi-autonomous government institution. The new institute continued research activities from the East African Agricultural and Forestry Research Organisation (EAAFRO), East African Veterinary Research Organisation (EAAVRO) and, finally, the Ministries of Agriculture and Livestock Development. In 1986, the Kenyan government recognized the challenge to meet long-term food production constraints in the country. The Kenya Veterinary Vaccines Production Institute (KEVEVAPI) and the Kenya Tripanosomiasis Research Institute (KETRI) have been integrated into KARI more recently. This was due to the recognition of the need by the government to further strengthen its agricultural research system to create an institutional framework to effectively manage, reorganise and consolidate agricultural research within the country.^[12]

See also

• Economy of Kenya
• Coffee Industry of Kenya
• Tea Production in Kenya

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Agriculture in Kenya

State corporations of Kenyan agriculture from the Kenyan government main site

• Agricultural Development Corporation
• Agricultural Finance Corporation
• Coffee Board of Kenya
• Horticultural Crops Development Authority
• Kenya Dairy Board
• Kenya Flower Council
• Kenya Forestry Research Institute
• Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute
• Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service
• Kenya Sugar Board
• Kenya Sugar Research Foundation
• National Cereals and Produce Board
• National Irrigation Board
• New Kenya Co-operative Creameries
• Pest Control Products Board
• Pyrethrum Board of Kenya
• Tea Board of Kenya
• Tea Research Institute of Kenya

v t e Economy of Kenya currency = Kenyan shilling Economy Central Bank of Kenya East African Community History of Trade Kenyan shilling Nairobi Stock Exchange Kenya Economic Stimulus Program Sectors and industries: Agriculture Banking Beer Coffee Communications Roads Tourism Transportation