Help: CS Kiunjuri blames counties for low crop yields

Counties have been accused of letting down farmers in the provision of extension services.

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri (pictured) said the devolved units had not done enough to equip farmers with the right information to help them increase yields.  

“I would say that the counties have not really played their role when it comes to the extension officers because that is the domain of the county governments,” he said.

Mr Kiunjuri was speaking during the Kenya Fertiliser Roundtable organised by the State Department of Crop Development, which falls under his ministry.

There was consensus that while Kenyan farmers had access to fertiliser, lack of proper information ensured that they continued applying the farm inputs wrongly.

Kiunjuri said most of the issues affecting productivity could easily be addressed by providing the right information.

“Just by informing them on the right produce, seeds, season… this will ensure that there is increase in production,” he said.  

The CS said that although the Government had pumped billions of shillings into the fertiliser subsidy programme, lack of extension officers to relay the latest techniques and information to farmers had resulted in poor yields.

Providing services

“(It depends) on how aggressive the county governments are, but the Government has extension officers and we are providing the services,” said Kiunjuri.

Smallholder farmers have been the most affected, partly because they have used fertiliser and other inputs wrongly and also because they been unable to get access to the fertiliser. Since 2013, the value of fertilisers used has increased almost 100 per cent from Sh8.9 billion to Sh17.6 billion in 2017.

However, production of maize has stagnated at 39 million bags in the period, with the country having to plug a five million bag deficit through importation.

Production of beans has increased by 19 per cent from 7.9 million bags in 2013 to 9.4 million bags in 2017.

Reforms implemented in the 1990s, which saw the agricultural sector liberalised with the Government dropping numerous subsidy programmes, saw extension officers virtually disappear.

The number of agricultural experts coming out of college has also been declining, with most students opting to pursue agricultural economics, whose role is mostly policy.

Official figures show that while enrolment for agricultural courses at degree level went up by about 42 per cent, enrolment for diploma courses declined by 70.5 per cent, with 196 students in 2017 compared to 665 in 2016.

Agricultural courses

In the past five years, students enrolled at Egerton University for training in agriculture plunged by 89 per cent from 1,820 students.  

Most extension officers employed by the national government are set for retirement, pushing the agricultural sector deeper into a crisis.

The type of fertiliser to be used is determined after the soil has been tested for acidity or alkalinity.