Scientists: Pearl millet can reduce hunger in Kenya’s arid areas

Perennial hunger and poverty in dry areas in Kenya could be reduced through the cultivation of a nutrient-rich millet variety.

Scientists say pearl millet has the potential to support food insecure rural households in arid and semi-arid regions, especially in Eastern and North Eastern.

Despite being the most widely grown type of millet in Africa, numerous attempts to improve the crop’s productivity and market potential, particularly in Kenya, have been abortive as thousands of people are still food insecure.

Silas Ong’udi, an agricultural economist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), said a lack of co-ordination, overcrowding of actors and limited marketing opportunities have resulted in weak market value chains and underdeveloped output markets. This has diluted initiatives to commercialise the crop.

He said pearl millet performs well under hot and dry climatic conditions, with rainfall of between 200-600 mm annually, and in highly saline soils where maize and potatoes would record poor yields.

Commodity crops

In comparison to irrigated commodity crops supported by Government policies, pearl millet requires only 25 per cent of the rainfall demanded by sugarcane and banana.

The crop, therefore, relieves the country of irrigation water or power demands, making it a viable alternative for producers operating in harsh environmental conditions.

In Kenya, however, pearl millet producers are still classified as poor, with no crop insurance. As such, they are wholly dependent on subsistence production.

Yet, pearl millet forms excellent feed for livestock, both as grain and forage. Studies have found that broilers fed on pearl millet are heavier, with a better feed conversion rate than those fed on maize.

The crop is also a major ingredient in fuel and ethanol production, with fermentation estimated at 30 per cent greater than that of maize.

Although pearl millet is nutritionally rich compared to other cereals, Mr Ong’udi said its consumption in the country has reduced significantly in the last three decades.

“This has been linked to its lengthy cooking time, changes in consumer tastes and preferences, biased policies of supplying fine cereals at subsidised prices to urban consumers, and free distribution of maize seeds to small-scale farmers, even though the grain performs poorly in arid and semi-arid lands.”

This has seen smallholder farmers continuously allocating more land to maize despite its dismal performance in dry regions.

Intensified cultivation

As a result, the total area allocated to pearl millet in Kenya has reduced from 115,302.6 hectares in 2007 to 100,143.9 hectares in 2011.

Production per unit area has also dipped, with per hectare yield declining from 1,610 kilogrammes in 1980 to an estimated 200-800kg in 2008. This is against potential of between 1,500 and 3,000kg per hectare.

According to the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Institute (Kalri), these trends have seen a rise in imports from Tanzania and Uganda.

But there is hope on the horizon for intensified cultivation of the crop. Some small-scale pearl millet producers in Kenya have identified several factors limiting pearl millet value addition and promotional attempts.

Among these are poorly developed marketing channels with weak value chains, high assembly and processing costs, uncompetitive grain prices, lack of market information, limited processing facilities and inadequate grain supply.

If these challenges are addressed, experts say people living in marginalised areas can become food secure, with a stable income drawn from the sale of the crop.

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