After my long term research on smallholders farmers in Kenya and trying to see how other farmers are doing in west Africa(Nigeria,Ghana and Ivory coast),East Africa(Uganda Tanzania and Rwanda), India and Israel. Its clear that the Kenyan farmers have more possibilities and opportunities than all the farmers across the globe if they unite. About 5.3 million ha (20% of total land in Kenya) of the land has high rainfall supporting production of tea, coffee, pyrethrum, horticulture and floriculture, and food crops such as maize, wheat, potatoes, pulses, and dairy farming. The semi-arid area covering about 32% of total land has average rainfall and supports mixed crop and livestock rearing. Irrigated flower farming has in the recent past emerged as a major type of land use alongside agropastoralism. Over 50% of the total land cover is arid with extremely low and erratic rainfall. The expansive land is used for extensive livestock production under nomadic systems.
This means we have enough basic factor of production and utilities.
During my research my biggest questions were:
1)why is the kenyan farmer poor
2)why are farm inputs,greenhouses,agriculture technologies expensive and not accessible to some farmers in kenya.
3)why is it selling farmers products the biggest challenge yet farmers market dont get enough supplies,we dont have enough food for ourselves we import from Tanzania,uganda,south africa,china and lately maxico yet we export a lot to america ,europe and arab world (things not adding up)
4)why dont we have a legal policy framework to support and guide the small scale farmers.
5)why in kenya we dont have fully integrated companies that belong to small scale farmers to help them grow products,process,sell or develop related business in line to creating a full solution to all the products from small scale farmers.
Lets see a summary of the the five major issues
1)why is the kenya farmer poor
Agriculture is the backbone of the Kenyan economy. It contributes approximately 25% of GDP, employing 75% of the national labour force. Over 80% of the Kenyan population live in rural areas and make a living, directly or indirectly,
2)why are farm inputs,greenhouses,agriculture related technologies expensive and not accessible to some farmers in kenya.
farm inputs costs affects the progress on farming and hence the entire economic chain. After talking to distributors from agro based companies, agroinputs non profit organisations supplying inputs all they say is its a game of volumes to get discounts. there are several forms which this can be done eg farmers coming together to set up a chain of stores just like supermarkets to sell farm inputs farmers from one region with this kind of model they can control the entire distribution and so fix the price from manufactures directly. They can also unite and make their feeds and even seeds they dont need to be imported.
(example of agrimart chain of store owned by farmers in india.. this can be set in every county by farmers )
unless we use technology our farming cant go far.Less than 7% of Kenya’s cropped land is irrigated, while as much as 83% of land is arid or semi-arid and classed as ‘low potential’. Increasing the irrigated area could stabilise agricultural output and reduce dependence on rain-fed systems.Even if we have more land in dry areas its possible to use them look at ALMARAI the largest integrated dairy farm in the world located in the desert of saudi arabia, we have arab quatar the largest vertically integrated poulty farm still is arabia with current technology 100% of kenyas farm land is cultivatable This means we need irrigation equipment but prices are too high coming together means this equipment,machines and greenhouse materials or other things we need as farmers all can be imported at lower price as farmers.most importers of this materials and equipment get a profit of over 50% this can translate to reduction of this items cost by 50%. which most farmers can afford.Some inputs and almost all these things are available in Nairobi only this means other rural farmers cant access but with the chain of farmers stores this things will go closer to the farmers and affordable
3)why is it selling farmers products the biggest challenge yet farmers market dont get enough supplies,we dont have enough food for ourselves we import from Tanzania,uganda,south africa,china and lately maxico yet we export a lot to america ,europe and arab world (things not adding up)
there is huge unending demand of food and so market should never be an issue. but in kenya there is a big problem in coordinating the farmers markets since they are owned by brokers and local government this brings a greater mess. export market demands huge volumes of products in kenya but exporters cant link up with farmers since farmers are not together and they dont know where to find many farmers. some pay farmers poorly or even no pay at all because farmers dont know their rights and how to use state regulators which also take years to assist them in netting the exporters or buyers who mess them.
According to the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute currently KALRO , more than 10 million out of Kenya’s total population of 40 million is food insecure, with the majority of them living on food relief which is clear we are now depending on GOK maize flour. This means there is also distribution problem because other places food is more and they are disposed or rotting.its all about proper planning with farmers.
The bulk of our pulses,onions and citrus fruits come from tanzania yet we can grow them here in kenya. the local farmers should be given priority. we cant import maize from mexico yet we can help farmers in eldoret and kitale fight armyworm and irrigate their farms for more production of maizedevelop policies which allow them access credit inputs and labour costs from DEVELOPMENT financial institutions .
to solve this farmers can team up and set their markets private owned and set a franchise chain of stores in towns , estates and even home delivery. this creates distribution,availability hence demand and so huge market for their products. if marikiti is owned by brokers the farmers can hire a big store in the CBD and set something like this where buyers can come shop fresh products from small scale farmers. if this is set across kenya many people would be willing to support and buy from this stores which belongs to the farmers. it has worked in Tanzania
Get more details on this model click
its also possible to explore overseas market the procedure is easy and it takes two farmers sitting on a computer and searching buyers once they get leads, they can travel to confirm on the buyer and sign contracts. its possible for farmers to come up and set their own export company that pays them all the proceeds from th exported products. currently exporters are getting over 400% profit from exporting smallholder farmers products yet farmers are making losses or getting small margins.
4)why dont we have a legal policy framework to support and guide the small scale farmers.
our society actions has to be backed by written laws and policies there is no single law in kenya set only for smallholder farmers to ensure there is proper support of this farmers billions of money from Govt and donors are directed to smallscale farmers for research,value addition, capacity building but little impact is seen because of mismanagement and lack of sustainable plan. for example an NGO sets 100 greenhouses to farmers yet they dont help them build market and water for irrigation so the projects goes down yet millions is gone the law should be strict that unless you have a sustainable plan you cant just do projects in the name of helping but in reality you are not
5)why in kenya we dont have fully vertical integrated companies that belong to small scale farmers to help them grow products,process,sell or develop related business in line to creating a full solution to all the products from small scale farmers. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, an estimated five million out of about eight million Kenyan households depend directly on agriculture for their livelihoods. But in kenya we have one extension officer for every 1,500 farmers according to the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development. That is combining "ghost" government extension officers and private companies extension officers.
It is a time when it is never about what the government can do but what can we do as farmers, i decided to visit Leeton and learn what is going on in Riverrina new south wales food basket of Australia
SunRice is the consumer brand and trading name of Ricegrowers Limited, which is one of Australia's largest exporters of processed branded food products. In the 2016 financial year, SunRice recorded revenue of ksh one trillion and profit of 3.8 billion. this company is owned by current or former rice growers. and is vertically integrated/VI( VI- IS strategy where a company expands its business operations into different steps on the same production path, such as when a manufacturer owns its supplier and/or distributor) sunrice sells rice even to kenya and they make all products associated with rice so they utilise everything thus farmers get good pay. its possible to set such companies for all farmers products in kenya without depending on the government
The above is just a summary there are many things that smallholder farmers can do in kenya to ensure that they earn what is rightfully theirs. The best thing is to come together and unite for this common goal, set up an association or cooperative society and move on. i am looking for farmers who are willing so that we can team up bring together all other farmers so that we can see the best way to start.The reason why you see success in israel is because of the concept of kibbutz,A kibbutz is a COLLECTIVE community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. its all about coming together.
I am calling on all farmers lets unite and together we can do more.
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also record your details so that we can plan a meeting to discuss on how we can help one another click and fill the form
if you need more info or you want to share you ideas as well contact me on call/whatsapp/text +254729379092 email nicklykipkorir@gmail.com skype:nicklykipkorir
TOGETHER WE CAN DO MORE
