Agro-dealer networks can change farmers’ fortunes

The World Bank projects that agriculture and agribusiness in Africa will grow into a Sh116 trillion industry by 2030. For countries like Kenya, where households exclusively engaged in agriculture contribute an average of 30 per cent to reducing rural poverty, agriculture-based economies present a massive opportunity for food security and driving socioeconomic growth.

The current terms of trade seem to work against farmers, particularly smallholders: Rising input costs, declining output prices and meager yields all make for lower returns. As a result, rural households in the country, even Sub-Saharan Africa, continue to experience declining growth in net incomes. So where will Kenya’s agricultural growth come from?

Attaining national food and nutrition security requires us to fully meet the four pillars set out in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2)—availability, access, utilisation and stability—to achieve the basic human right to food for everyone.

Good progress

National shortages of quality, affordable seed and fertiliser make access a national problem, which, in turn, makes crop yields a challenge. We’ve made good progress in partly meeting this goal by combining government procurement and input subsidies in response to increasing global fertiliser prices.

Uncertified seeds potentially aid plant disease contamination, resulting in low yields. But because certified hybrid seeds, especially for cereal staples like maize, are often significantly higher priced than local varieties, many small-scale farmers rely on informal seed exchanges to secure their food supply. If we address the access challenge, we will influence production and profitability, both huge concerns.

Effectively correcting this situation requires significant investment in production. We would need to double our current supplies of fertiliser and seed to reach more farmers than we do. This is not something the government can achieve on its own; neither should it be its concern alone, for optimal and sustainable food production is a public objective that requires government and private sector efforts.

Insufficient attention

In recent years, the Agriculture ministry—and several agriculture-intensive counties—has collaborated with strategic partners to spread the investment cost to take seed, fertiliser and training closer to farmers.

But while input access programmes increase the use of certified seed and fertiliser, there is often insufficient attention to ensuring their efficient use; coupling access with training can ensure farmers get the most out of their investment.

Achieving zero hunger requires focus beyond production. Farming must not merely sustainably produce adequate food diets but also empower farmers financially.

There is also space to tailor agricultural policies for farmers and agro-dealers to mutually benefit. An example is the government’s E-voucher programme, which allows farmers to access subsidised inputs from agro-dealers and retail points.

Mr McCourt is government relations lead at Tupande, a One Acre Fund programme. [email protected]. @Koomemccourt