Smallholder farmers need access to hybrid seeds now

Hybrid maize at Kitale Show in Trans Nzoia county. [Christopher Kipsang, Standard]

I have spent more than 30 years of my life farming on a small piece of land in Nakuru. In those three decades, it has never been as challenging to be a farmer as it is today. The yield I can generate on my smallholding can simply not keep up with the cost of inputs to produce food and an income for my family.

In addition to these economic challenges, the climate is increasingly unpredictable with drought periods longer and more severe than usual. There are new pests and diseases such as fall armyworm (FAW) damaging my maize fields and those of other farmers across the country. This is on top of fighting off old enemies like stem borers that require us to spray against these pests multiple times during the season to save our crops.