Slow down bottom-up economic agenda rollout for better results

President William Ruto during the launch of Hustler Fund in Nairobi. [File, Standard]

In the acrimonious arena that is Kenya politics today, it is understandably risky to loudly give the Kenya Kwanza government any positive reviews. But alas, where else could we meet President William Ruto discreetly to give him a piece of our mind away from the public eye?

But peering soberly and honestly past the thick forest of invective and loathing that Kenyans routinely direct upstairs nowadays, we will, as the cliché goes, avoid throwing out the genuinely good ‘child’ envisioned by Dr Ruto’s acclaimed original manifesto with the bathwater.

For without doubt, the philosophy of Ruto’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (being anchored as it is on genuinely strong pillars such as Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Universal Health Care, Digital Superhighway and Creative Economy, Housing and Settlement and Agriculture) is a fitting prescription for any country aspiring to ascend into the middle-income echelon of nations.

Where most observers find fault is in the government’s apparently hurried and unnecessarily ‘all-at-once’ rollout of ideas as opposed to exhausting the implementation of one pillar before proceeding to the next. This has led to immense agony for local taxpayers, and to general public outcry.

As it is now, advanced national discourses have come in fast and furiously. From the Housing levy to the Universal Health Care controversies to the New University Funding Model and the contested privatisation of the main airport, ad infinitum, it has been quite mind-boggling. Unrelenting inundation with numerous novel ideas has left many Kenyans extremely exhausted and bewildered.

Regardless, the government’s initial strategy of streamlining the agriculture sector- on which this article focuses - by subsidising farm inputs was spot on, given the primacy of the shamba in the Kenyan psyche where everyone from the President down to the janitor is a farmer of some sort, be it of herb, bird or cow. Singling out this omnipresent sector for treatment was quite inspired, since most other processes such as manufacturing, investment and wealth creation always annex themselves to it automatically.

Sadly, the momentum was slowed by the shameful introduction of fake fertilisers into the market, and there is consensus that the process was never properly concluded. Other critical inputs besides fertilisers should have been thrown into the equation, and deliberate efforts at value addition proactively made.

As expected, availability of cheap fertilisers led to increased output by the farmers, then to a glut in the market for perishable produce such as potatoes and cabbages, and finally, to unnecessary spoiling and wastage of fresh produce. There was therefore need to pre-plan for increased shelf-life of the accruing harvests by enabling value-addition of products preferably within the same location where production takes place.

This has largely happened in the milk sector with products such as yoghurt and butter having more longevity than the highly perishable raw milk, thereby guaranteeing a robust value chain besides attracting premium prices.

In the process, different kinds of markets for by-products of raw milk have emerged, especially among the growing number of urban connoisseurs of cheeses, ghee, sour milk and other higher order milk derivatives. This success could be replicated among other products by, for example, converting potatoes to crisps, or drying and storing up vegetables without compromising nutrition.

On the international stage, Ghana has shown that this can be done by beginning to produce chocolate after generations of buying back their own cocoa exorbitantly from Europe as processed products. Without stirring the hornet’s nest unnecessarily, Kenya should take cue and similarly plan for importing less Nescafe from Switzerland in future.

Secondly, the value-augmentation of products should go hand in hand with improved local market access. This calls for a shift from the populist practice where tarmacked roads, water, energy and Information and Communications Technology lines often lead to the homes of political VIPs, or performatively connect towns, to a more utilitarian model where infrastructural service lines link up agricultural production centres.

This, coupled with promulgation of cross-county trade treaties and use of existing agricultural data will facilitate easy movement of agricultural goods locally based on demand and supply, and encourage growth of agri-business. Ultimately, no one will fail to quaff camel milk, or enjoy the popular camel soup just because they do not live in Marsabit or Mandera.

Mombasa coconuts will be ubiquitous Kenya-wide, as will be Kisumu’s fish, while the northern frontier of the country will partake fresh potatoes and cabbages from the highlands as though they themselves lived there.

When you think of it, it was tragic that our counties, originally envisioned as economic units ultimately became political. Through the collaboration of the county ministries of trade and their national counterpart, we would have expected to see the most ideal and effective resource mobilisation, revenue generation and positive competition and other stuff necessary for spurring national growth taking place in the devolved units. Had this happened, counties would be asking for less and less capitation from the national government with the passage of time, contrary to what is happening currently.

Finally, the rollout of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda should be allowed to flow naturally, even if it means continuing into future political regimes.