New agriculture reforms must come with action

The latest raft of measures to jumpstart the agriculture sector are a breath of fresh air and a welcome relief. They come at a time when smallholder farmers are chocking under market distortions, unscrupulous traders, conflict of interests at boardrooms, delayed payments and poor governance.

The reforms introduced by President Uhuru Kenyatta targeting some of the most important commodities in Kenya including tea, coffee, bananas, milk, potato and rice if followed to the letter and backed by committed institutions are pivotal in bolstering production, increasing farmers’ income, reversing the cycle of food insecurity and addressing the perennial food import bill. Such woes have held the industry hostage despite the sector contributing the largest share to the national purse.

Scenes of farmers uprooting their tea bushes out of frustration for poor returns and even more pouring their milk as unprecedented low prices and market glut conspire to rob them off their hard sweat, have not only been heart breaking but have brought to light everything that bedevil the agriculture sector. The growers, the producers, the ones who toil and get their hands dirty, rarely enjoy fruits of their labour.

It is therefore understandable that farmers have welcomed the multi-billion shilling economic stimulus package with cautious optimism. Previous promises have not translated into tangible results. If anything, the sector has over the decades haemorrhaged more as cartels become more daring and sophisticated. The true test and commitment of the recent measures will be in the style and speed of implementation. What measures have respective departments put in place to ensure these reforms are actionable and targeted at the intended beneficiaries? What are the timelines for their implementation? How are we going to measure impact? When can milk farmers expect price increment as they continue to wallow in exorbitant production costs even as the milk prices remain leaving them with nothing?

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As the reforms, if well implemented, remain a step in the right direction, the ultimate panacea for the agriculture sector is a holistic transformative strategy, one that will relook and rejig the entire value chain from production, inputs, harvesting, storage, harvesting to transportation and market dynamics. For how does a country whose agriculture sector contributes up to 34 per cent of the national GDP spend $1.5 billion to import basic food commodities while it’s poor and vulnerable spend up to three quarter of their income on food?

The overall long term reforms that are long overdue should be how to make agriculture more commercial and competitive.

We need investment in new farming technologies including precision agriculture and irrigation that not only expand our area under food production but entice a pool of young and innovative farmers whose future is itself pegged on current food systems.  

Ultimately, in a free market like ours, we need plausible and long term measures that allow us to compete with our regional and global peers while connecting primary food producers directly with the markets and enjoying full benefits of their forte. Value addition and diversification of markets remain our silver bullets. Such have been tried and tested through initiatives like the Iriaini Tea factory in Othaya County that has been selling their tea directly to UK retail behemoth Mark and Spencer and earning more than double what farmers who use middlemen get.

The role of government has and should always be creating a viable environment for investors and the private sector to do business. It should not in itself do business. A favourable investment regime chaperoned by government is pivotal in incentivising private players to pass over the benefits to consumers.

The onus of giving the agriculture sector its impetus as a key sector in helping the country achieve its aspirations and leaving no one behind lies in actualising the commitments we have made to our farmers both short and long term.

[Nelson Maina is Elgon Kenya head of communications]

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