Agriculture troubles go beyond who's in charge

The locust invasion has not only caused havoc across the country, but has also brought to an end Mwangi Kiunjuri’s career as the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary, or was it a coincidence? The last two years of Mr Kiunjuri’s leadership at the ministry saw high levels of mismanagement of government agriculture programmes and functions.

We have seen the mismanagement of the fertiliser subsidy programme, National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) procurement, fall armyworm, aflatoxin, smuggled milk and eggs, and fish from China. Indeed, various stakeholders in the sector had openly called for the sacking of the CS, but the president did not act on these concerns until two weeks ago.

While Kiunjuri’s exit was long overdue, the agriculture sector is grappling with significant challenges that need more changes that go beyond who is in charge of the ministry. Let me remind us of a few key issues that need immediate action.

The first one is the public extension service, which is practically dead. It has now been replaced by private-led input marketing schemes in the guise of private extension. Farmers in the country have no choice but to rely on these 'philanthropic' initiatives by agrochemical companies to get information on how to enhance their production and manage day-to-day farming challenges.

The result of this is a high cost of production as farmers end up using expensive inputs in production promoted heavily by the multinationals that dominate the business. Some companies now give the inputs on credit, where a farmer repays after harvest, plus interest of course. This is an indication that many farmers find it difficult to fund their farming activities, which overly rely on costly external inputs.

Our policy and regulations do not sufficiently encourage a more sustainable approach to farming that would put farmers and farming communities in the driving seat. Farmers continue to lose control of the sector to big business. This control goes all the way from inputs of production, methods of farming to value addition and markets. The result of this change is that the revenue share for farmers continues to shrink as other players reap big from the sweat of smallholders who work hard to produce, and depend on their farms for an income.

Unfair manipulation

Our agriculture policy fails to effectively speak to other related sectors, such as health, education and trade. Being the mainstay of our economy, the disconnect of agriculture from other sectors is problematic. There continues to be no support for farmers to enhance their returns from cross-border trade, hence exposing them to unfair manipulation by private entities and brokers.

In addition, the nexus between nutrition and the agriculture sector has not been fully developed in the country. Whereas there are joint working groups on nutrition between the ministries of Health and Agriculture, it is difficult to quantify their impact on the citizenry. 

The problems of the agriculture sector did not start, and therefore will not end, with former CS Kiunjuri. The president, as head of State, needs to make deliberate efforts to revive the sector. He needs to remember that he has food security as part of his Big Four Agenda, and that we are all watching the legacy he will leave behind.

May Article 43 of the Constitution guide him. His citizens are tired. Throwing more money at tea, coffee and milk farmers can only go as far as the money allocated to the sugar sector did, for example. We all know how that turned out. What is needed is an overhaul of our agriculture policies and practices. 

So while I join Kenyans and other stakeholders in the sector to bid goodbye to Kiunjuri, I cannot help but worry that his exit does not signify a fresh start for the ministry. I am concerned that the incoming CS - at least from his CV - might not bring to the ministry the much-needed solutions, starting with the current locust crisis.

It would have been great if the president had identified an experienced farmer or agriculture expert to head this important docket. The reshuffle was a great opportunity for the president to appoint someone who could professionally grasp the issues affecting the sector.

Hopefully Peter Munya will surprise us, for instance, by reviving public extension to ensure that farmers have the right knowledge and access to solutions that are sustainable and pocket-friendly, and protect them from exploitation by big business.

He could also support agro-ecological farming, a method that gives farmers control by reducing reliance on external inputs in production. It also improves rural food security by enhancing food diversity, zero-cost production and sovereignty.

If Mr Munya can shift government thinking from industry-led solutions to smallholder farmer-focused policies, he will have started on the right note. 

Mr Atamba is a Route to Food ambassador