Agriculture and devolution: Time to close missing links

Agriculture contributes about 20 per cent of Kenya’s gross domestic product (GDP) according to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) 2023) and is a key employer in the rural areas. However, most people do not think they are employed by working on the farm.

Many dream of escaping the back-breaking farm work in the rural areas. Over 14 years after the promulgation of the new constitution, we can boldly ask if devolution has had dividends in agriculture.

Study on Devolution @10 notes that despite some moderate levels of efforts by counties to support income increases in agriculture, livestock and fisheries, these efforts are often ineffective due to a complex interplay of environmental, structural, economic and political challenges.

They include rapid urbanisation, lack of value addition, inadequate market access, insufficient investment, limited expertise and infrastructure, climate change, and weak political will.

We can use a few parameters in assessing the impacts of investment in agriculture. Are we more food secure? Has productivity gone up? Has agriculture’s “star” risen, recognising its central role in the rural and national economy? 

Let’s start with food security. While there have been some improvements in food security due to increased agricultural investments by county governments, overall progress across counties remains moderate to low.

Insufficient financial resources and mismanagement of projects, water scarcity, reliance on traditional farming practices, land fragmentation, declining youth interest in agriculture, and dependence on external food supplies hinder food security.

Food insecurity is manifested by the fact that family food is often supplemented by urban relatives or diaspora. Lots of remittances are used to buy food. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) (2024) puts it very clearly, “Over 50 per cent of remittances are sent to rural areas, where 75 per cent of the world’s poor and food-insecure live.”

It would be interesting to ask how many months of food supply an average family have - just like months of import cover set by the government.

More curious is that in the past, every homestead had a granary. Few Gen Zs have seen a granary. Is the absence of granaries a sign of good insecurity? 

The second aspect of food security is nutritional. Poverty often means filling the stomach matters more than what fills it. Our traditions tie us to certain foods, with nutrition taking a back seat.

Would we eat insects to supplement our diet? Would we eat fish despite growing up without it? Schools can introduce children to different diets. I ate fish for the first time in high school and liked it ever since.

Extension officers (where are they?) should advise us on the best crops or livestock to keep. I recently tried growing grapes along Thika Road and have already harvested!

Food security is supplemented by government efforts. How many counties have strategic food reserves? What incentives do farmers get from counties? Farmers elsewhere, e.g Europe, America, or closer home Indian farmers have access to credit, subsidies, technology and advice from universities or research institutes.

Is productivity rising in devolved units? Are farmers getting more out per acre of their crops? Are they getting more milk or meat per cow or goat? Land fragmentation and less technology are dragging agricultural productivity. Some children have never seen a tractor or combine harvester at work.

Productivity goes up if farmers use innovations like drip irrigation, natural manure, ICT or new crops like GMO (though resisted). Culture is an enemy of productivity; why can’t families let one member inherit all land and pay off the rest to stop sub-division? Can we have a minimum lot size anchored in law?

Are we taking advantage of global trends? Have wheat farmers benefited from the shortage of wheat because of the war in Ukraine? Is the revival of wheat growing in Laikipia and Nyandarua a response to that?  

Is agriculture a rewarding occupation? Going by admission to universities and high school subject choices, agriculture is not the most popular subject. It’s not yet “cool’ to the youth.

Beyond counties and families, the macro environment matters too. The national government has been slow to let the counties go, which would rejuvenate agriculture in the counties.

The Ministry of Agriculture should be in tune with global practices. A good example, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (2024) says: “We provide leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition and related issues based on public policy, the best available science and effective management.” Our ministry?

National interconnectedness through an efficient transport network ensures food security and stable prices; some regions are food deficit others have surplus. How about connecting our farmers to global supply chains?

We should not miss the international dimension in agriculture. Think of the economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) and the push to do away with subsidies by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

What do EAC, the Africa Free Trade Area and Africa’s Agenda 2063 say about food and agriculture? Do these high-level policies cascade to the farmers? Do food imports depress local prices and discourage farmers from producing more? 

In developed countries, farmers are few but influential. In Kenya, there are many but not influential. Devolution should raise farmers’ influence with county governments, positioning agriculture as the fulcrum of rural economic transformation.

Devolution brought power and responsibility to the grassroots. But that has not fully cascaded to farmers who are at the frontline in food security.