In this section we present summaries of proceedings of stakeholders workshop and market survey results on maize and dairy subsectors in Kenya conducted by postgraduate students.
Executive Summary of Stakeholder Workshop Proceedings
AgShare Project Stakeholders workshop at Moi University was held to facilitate interaction of key stakeholders in the agricultural sector who include faculty, researchers, students, etc. and therefore enhance exchange of ideas and sharing of experiences. More specifically the work aimed at sharing the findings of the Agshare Maize and Dairy subsector surveys, isolating challenges faced by stakeholders in the two sub-sectors and brainstorm on the way forward for improving performance of the two sub-sectors. The workshop was interactive and involved presentations by resource persons before panel discussions of issues emerging from the papers presented. The major issues that emerged from the workshop were:
- Farmers’ practices do not match recommended practices; it was recommended that measures should be put in place to facilitate adoption of technologies, to tackle constraints facing farmers in maize/dairy sub-sector and to strengthen GOK extension service.
- Collaboration among stakeholders is needed in research, capacity building and problem identification.
- Role of small traders in maize/dairy needs to be enhanced through capacity building
- Farmers need to be enlightened on the best practices in maize and dairy
- Farmers should be assisted to develop proposals for acquisition of credit
- Bottlenecks in maize and milk marketing should be tackled
- Collaboration and coordination is needed among organizations dealing with farmers to avoid duplication and gaps in service delivery
- Whole value chain approach should be adopted in research and extension
- Research-Extension-Farmer linkage should be strengthened through on-farm trials and demonstrations.
Overall multi-stakeholder approach to development of teaching materials and resolution of agricultural problems is the way to go since it enhances relevance of teaching curriculum to industries and also enables researchers to draw their research problems from the communities.
See link below for more information on Stakeholder Workshop Proceedings:
Stakeholders Workshop Proceedings
FINDINGS OF MOI UNIVERSITY AgShare PILOT PROJECT ON DAIRY VALUE CHAIN
By
Mr. Francis Onyango Oduor - Student (M.Phil Agricultural Economics and Resource Management, Moi University)
This study was carried out to
characterize dairy production (in terms of management practices, resources
used,constrains faced), determine the profitability of the dairy enterprise and
suggest ways of improving productivity. Data was collected through farm surveys
using structured questionnaires. A total of 62 respondents were interviewed
including farmers, traders, transporters and Kenya Dairy Board. Gross margin
and descriptive statistics were used. Results show that the dairy sub-sector plays an important role in livelihoods of
farmers. Dairy sub sector is male dominated with 85% of farmers being male, 70% of the dairy farmers had no formal employment,
33% of the farmers with formal education were female. Farmers with
advanced level of education do dairy farming-55% of the farmers had tertiary
education. About 50% of the farmers supplement their farm income with transfers from
relatives and friends. The state of poor marketing strategies and prices was
well explained by the fact that only 35% of the farmers were members of a
cooperative. There was an average of 2 dairy animals per hectare of land. The average milk yield was
13.8L per cow per day out of which 7.5 % was consumed at home, 76% sold, 11%
given to calves and 5.5% got spoiled. The major cost of production was labor accounting for 29% of the variable cost with the remaining cost being attributable to forage (24%) and concentrates (17%). The gross margin per cow per day
was slightly below US$2 as opposed to the target of US$ 3 per
day per cow. It is therefore necessary to sensitize farmers to
adopt recommended practices to improve their income. The study found a number of challenges namely
high cost of inputs, low quality of feeds, poor access to good breeds, high
incidences of pests and diseases, inadequate credit facilities, costly and
inefficient AI service, inadequate extension and training services, poor
infrastructure, inadequate milk collection and marketing systems and high
transport cost. A number of possible remedies suggested by farmers were absorption of excess milk production, provision of credit and
extension service, improvement of roads and other infrastructure.
See links below for more information on the Dairy research component:
1.
Full Report
2.
Presentation Slides
FINDINGS FROM THE MOI UNIVERSITY AGSHARE SURVEY OF STAKEHOLDERS IN THE MAIZE VALUE CHAIN.
By
Ms Christine Uluma - Student (M.Phil Agricultural Economics and Resource Management, Moi University)
Maize is the main
staple food for the people of Kenya, providing more than a third of the caloric
intake and accounts 56% of cultivated land. On average, 1.5 million hectares
are planted to maize annually, with annual production ranging between 26 and 36
million bags. Despite the centrality of maize to the Kenyan food system, the
country has for the last several decades been trending toward a structural
deficit in maize. Effectively coping with recurrent maize deficits is critical
for enhancing food security in Kenya and promoting economic growth in the
small-holder farm sector. The objective of the study was to analyze the maize
value chain, characterize activities undertaken by stakeholder, determine profitability,
challenges and suggest remedies. The study was carried out in two regions: the
maize surplus areas (Trans-Nzoia and Uasin-Gishu Counties) and maize deficit
areas (Machackos County). Data was generated through a survey carried out in November
2010. A survey of 60 respondents who included 36
farmers, 10 traders 3 transporters, 3 millers and 8 consumers. was done using systematic random
sampling. Data collected included household
profile, yield trends, credit, sources of incomes, sales and purchases, and
prices. Results showed that yields and gross margins were
below recommendations. The major constraints identified were inadequate capital,
pests and diseases, poor infrastructure, inadequate extension services, poor
quality inputs, land scarcity, labour scarcity, marketing, drought, soil
erosion and theft. It is recommended that
fertilizer/seed support be given, expand land under irrigation, improve
infrastructure, training programs for smallholders targeted
on effective marketing strategies, price support for all market stakeholders,
improvement of public and private extension programmes.
See links below for more information on the Maize research component: