Give farmers special attention in budget

The fiscal budget for the year 2020/21 will be pronounced under harsh economic conditions while the world is reeling under the weight of the Covid-19 pandemic. It will also coincide with a grim picture as the number of people in need of emergency food assistance in Kenya increased to 2.6 million in the year 2019 from 1.1 million in 2015. We also have challenges with desert locusts and above normal rainfall and the resultant floods.

The National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani promised to prioritise food security in the forthcoming financial year, thus raising expectations that the hunger pangs will be tempered in this year’s fiscal measures.

However, in the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) 2020/21, the proposed allocation is 4 per cent less than that of the Financial Year 2019/20. In the same breath, the budgetary allocation to the agriculture Rural and Urban Development sector is 49.4 per cent of the sectoral requirements despite the major announcements made on food insecurity.

Notably, the Big Four Agenda has food security as one of its pillars. Notwithstanding such policy pronouncements, Kenya has never come close to the Maputo Declaration target of allocating 10 per cent of its national budget to agriculture despite the sector employing over 40 per cent of the population and more than 70 per cent of the rural population. The low budgetary allocation, which shows the commitment of government towards policy, over time is replicated with allocation dwindling at 1.8 per cent in 2020/21, 1.6 per cent in 2019/20 and 1.5 per cent in 2018/19 down from 3.4 per cent in 2013/14.

One would therefore expect this year’s budget to place emphasis on food and nutrition sector in order to reduce the effect of acute food insecurity by 50 per cent as envisioned in the BPS. This would include budgetary consideration for food security initiatives which was allocated 35.8 per cent of the requirements according to the BPS. Most people’s expectation is that this would be increased to 100 per cent because it includes smallholder farmers who dominate the agricultural sector where over 70 per cent of national production is for household use.

Despite smallholder farmers being major players in food security, they are only remembered when markets and commerce fail as has been witnessed with the Covid-19 crisis. The importance of smallholder farmers has been highlighted in building resilience in food systems post-Covid-19 and hence the budget should focus on them. More allocation should be focused on expanding rural infrastructure and in rehabilitating existing ones, especially in the wake of the destruction caused by floods.

Beyond cushioning farmers, the country needs to address social protection generally because every year millions of Kenyans face worse levels of acute food insecurity, requiring humanitarian assistance and food aid. The Special Programmes sub-sector where the relief programme falls, was allocated Sh1 billion short of required Sh7.3 billion in the FY2020/21.

The economic lockdown and cessation of movement caused by the Covid-19 pandemic means an even greater number of people require food support. It is expected therefore that with the locust invasion, Covid-19 and floods its funding should be increased to 100 per cent.

The government should also reintroduce extension services, which are currently market-driven. Most smallholder farmers cannot afford extension services currently.

The services should probably be considered in a Public Private Partnership model to enhance productivity in an environment of decreasing land sizes. In addition, the government should reassess the Tax Bill 2020 and revert to VAT exemption of materials and equipment for the construction of grain storage.

A farming system that depends on pesticide imports to meet the food needs of the country deviates from the ultimate goal of food self-sufficiency and undermines the right of the people to define their own food and agriculture systems. The budget should offer maximum support to research, leading to the availability of locally manufactured biocontrol and biopesticide products as well as of safer synthetic insecticides.

This is Mr Yatani’s first budget and Kenyans will be holding their breath to see whether he will go a step further than his predecessors and outline creative measures to achieve food security. Hopefully he will because as illustrated here, options abound. 

Mr Gachoki, a public policy expert, teaches at Kenyatta University. [email protected]