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KAPMAD |
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Home > Project > KAPMAD > About the project About the project In Kenya, small-scale farmers account for over 70% of agricultural production and 50% of marketed output. Their production meets about 75% of national food demand, often in the context of subsistence farming. For along time now, evidence has shown that poverty largely overlaps with small-scale farming. Therefore, until recently, small-scale production was deemed unrewarding, inefficient, outdated, and uncompetitive in local and external markets, affected by low commodity prices, and injurious to the environment. However, the debate around small-scale production has increasingly moved from “crisis” to an imperative for “revival”. These farmers depend largely on markets for their survival. However, market access is irrelevant if the farmers cannot produce enough food to first feed their families, and then take surplus to the market. There is an expanding regional market in East Africa which small-scale farmers in Kenya should take advantage of. However, productivity-related competitiveness issues (low agricultural productivity in Kenya, particularly in the production of staple food) and under-development of agricultural markets in the East Africa region are blocking farmers’ efforts to improve their standards of living through trade and alleviate from their poverty conditions. There is not one single cause or circumstance that is responsible for the challenges small-scale farmers face in improving their productivity, competitiveness and market access; a complex confluence of factors deriving from policy, technology and nature are responsible. Today, productivity enhancement, market access, pro-poor growth, private sector involvement and social responsibility have become central themes in the search for development. But, the role of producer organisations, governments and big businesses in making markets work better for development are all disputed, especially since each of these stakeholders have their own set of assumptions and recommendations about the risks and opportunities for small-scale farmers. But, in most cases, there has been a top-down attitude towards small-scale farming where the farmers themselves are least consulted when stipulating options for them. In order to position themselves and make effective choices in the face of the crisis that they are facing, small-scale farmers and their organisations require knowledge and capacity to organise their interests and take effective action. But, fundamentally, this requires a multi-stakeholder approach with stimulated involvement of multiple stakeholders: governments, producer and business community, intermediaries, and civil society organisations to map out the challenges, understand, and enunciate appropriate options for the farmers. Objectives The goal of this project is to contribute to poverty reduction and improvement of livelihoods in Kenya through improved agricultural production and sustainable access of smallholder producers to markets. The two main objectives to be realised are:
Ultimately, the information generated above is to be used to initiate a small-scale farmers’ movement in Kenya, by which the farmers groups are provided the knowledge, opportunity and space to contribute in the process of evolving and implementing relevant policies that will alleviate them from their present state of poverty into prosperity Outcomes Ultimately, the information generated above is to be used to initiate a small-scale farmer’s movement in Kenya, by which the farmers groups are provided the knowledge, opportunity and space to contribute in the process of evolving and implementing relevant policies that will alleviate them from their present state of poverty into prosperity. |
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