State of the Nation: Ruto to deliver address against a backdrop of diverse agricultural challenges
A farmer Evageline Wabeti drying Coffee Mbuni at Kabati in Muranga County.
President William Ruto will today deliver his State of the Nation address against a backdrop of diverse agricultural challenges and successes that define the nation’s breadbasket regions.
From the maize farms of Rift Valley which face hurdles of fluctuating prices and climate shocks to Western Kenya's embattled sugarcane industry struggling for revival and Central Kenya’s coffee and tea sectors grappling with global market dynamics, the address is expected to shed light on the policies driving or hindering progress in these critical sectors.
In the South Rift, maize farmers are celebrating improved yields this season, attributing the bumper harvest to the government's fertiliser subsidy program and favourable rainfall.
Farmers project a national maize output of over 70 million bags this year, up from 67 million bags last year and 44 million two years ago.
The subsidised NPK fertiliser, available at Sh2,500 per 50-kilogram bag through National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) depots, has played a significant role in the improved harvest.
The land under maize in Kenya increased to 2,353,655 hectares in 2023 and is expected to further rise to 10,843,015 in the next five years according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Counties that raise more than 50 percent of the maize in the country are -Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Narok, Bungoma, Kakamega, Kericho, Bomet, Nandi and Nakuru.
Annually, Kenya has a deficit of 365,000 metric tons of maize despite the bumper harvest, leading to imports from Uganda and Tanzania.
Agriculture Principal Secretary Dr Paul Ronoh said the government had procured 2.5 million bags of fertilisers to be sold to farmers under the subsidy program to further increase production.
23 million bags
“In two years, the production of maize has risen with the measures put in place by the government leading to the harvest of 23 million bags compared with two years ago,” Dr Ronoh said.
The PS said that in the last two years of the subsidy programme, the government had supplied 8.5 million bags of fertilisers to farmers in the country.
As of the end of August, a total of 3, 4581,152 farmers had been captured under the e-voucher system which is expected to be made continuous to onboard more farmers in the production chain.
However, farmers in Narok, Kericho and Bomet counties have complained about non-functional driers at the NCPB depots.
Whereas the government supplied the huge dryers at the depots, none of them is available for use as they require three-phase transformers to function.
“Despite so much hype two years ago over the supply of the transformers, they have been lying idle in NCPB depots for lack of electricity connection. We have been left to dry the produce in the open,” Mr Festus Koskei, a farmer in Narok South, said.
Mr Koskei said the lack of dryers was causing post-harvest losses to farmers which posed a risk to food security in the country.
Over the years, land fragmentation has negatively affected agricultural production as agricultural land has been subdivided into non-productive levels.
High cost of production
Due to crop failure and the high cost of production over the years, farmers in the region have embraced diversification by growing cereals including beans and peas which are seasonal and of short season.
In the mountain region, farmers in Kenya's coffee belt are growing restless as the promise of revitalising their cherished “black gold” seems to remain just that, a promise.
They are also concerned by the low prices fetched by the tea and dairy sectors.
Once a source of pride and prosperity, coffee farming in the Central region is now marred by dwindling returns, delayed payments and alleged mismanagement within cooperative societies.
Two years after the Kenya Kwanza government vowed sweeping reforms in the sector, many farmers feel disillusioned with recent audits exposing insolvency in prominent cooperatives like Baricho Farmers Society in Mathira, Nyeri County.
Protests in Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Meru and Murang’a paint a picture of mounting frustration as hopes of a turnaround fade, leaving farmers questioning whether the much-hyped reforms are a reality or a mirage.
Farmers complain of low, delayed payments and unexplained deductions from their dues or outright theft of their earnings by managers of their respective societies.
For instance, a recent audit report by the commissioner of cooperatives a week ago revealed that the 7,000-member-strong Baricho Farmers’ Society in Mathira constituency Nyeri County is technically insolvent, reeling under a debt of Sh300 million.
Farmers in Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Meru and Murang'a, the main small-scale coffee growing areas have turned to demonstrations to express their grievances over dwindling returns from their crop.
Mr Benson Karanja, a member of Mathira North Farmers’ Society of Kiamariga,-Kabiruini, Kahiraini and Hiriga that collapsed about two years ago says farmers are disappointed with the government’s failure to keep their campaign promise to revive the society.
“We had very high hopes that President Ruto would turn around our fortunes. They told us during campaigns that they had a plan for us, but as things stand now we are disappointed and it seems there is no hope” he said.
In the Nyanza/Western sugar belt, stakeholders are calling on the government to expedite the implementation of the Sugar Act 2022 to facilitate the leasing of five State-owned sugar mills.
The legislation that was delayed for over two years aims to introduce transformative changes, including replacing outdated machinery and revitalising the once-lucrative sugar sector.
While workers in public sugar mills have welcomed the new legislation, they have appealed to President William Ruto to fast-track both its implementation and handing over factories to private investors.
The leasing process, initially spearheaded by the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) is now uncertain following the reinstatement of the Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) which was disbanded in 2013.
Kenya Union of Sugarcane Plantation and Allied Workers General-Secretary Francis Wangara expressed concerns that delays in the transition to the new board could hinder progress.
“We are worried that the process of constituting the new board might delay and derail the good initiative which was billed to bring good fortunes to the stakeholders,” said Mr Wangara.
“As things stand today, AFA will just hold brief pending the full constitution of the body which will now have an autonomy to regulate and coordinate activities in the sugar sector,” he added.
The KSB board will comprise a non-executive chairperson elected by the board from among representatives of growers and appointed by the Cabinet Secretary, five representatives chosen by farmers from each sugar catchment area and one representative elected by sugar millers.
It will also have the Agriculture PS, National Treasury PS, a nominee of the Council of Governors and the chief executive officer.
The five factories that have been put up for leasing include Chemelil, Sony, Nzoia as well as both Muhoroni and Miwani, which are under receivership.
The sugar factories have a combined potential of 30 per cent of the sugar market share in Kenya.
Leasing of the companies has faced indefinite delays following prolonged litigation by workers and farmers who accused AFA of failing to involve them in the entire process.
“The board must consider settling workers’ arrears of Sh5.2 billion owed to over 5,000 staff in salary arrears before giving the leasing process the green light,” he said.
Under the new arrangement, the private investors will run the mills for 20 years and make decisions that would breathe new life into the struggling sugar millers.
The government owns 98.8 per cent in Sony, Nzoia (97.93 per cent), 96.22 per in Chemelil through the Agricultural Development Corporation and 1.42 per cent through the Development Bank of Kenya.
It also owns 82.8 per cent stake in Muhoroni and 49 per cent in Miwani.
Successful bidders will control factories, office buildings, machinery, equipment, nucleus farms, staff and guest houses, school, sports stadia and service contractor yards owned by the millers.
The State is targeting to woo private companies to inject fresh capital into the struggling millers to not only grow their capacities but also maximize diversification into cogeneration of export power, production of bioethanol and allied co-products.
Reporting by Vitalis Kimutai, Victor Raballa and Stephen Munyiri
