1. MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE
PRESENTATION ON:
MARKET ACCESS BY SMALL SCALE
FARMERS IN KENYA
 PAPER PRESENTED AT THE 4TH WORKSHOP ON S-S
COOPERATION BETWEEN CHINA AND IFAD AT
BEINJING 5TH-12TH JULY 2012
BY:
MUIA MUINDI
MOA

2. BACKGROUND OF AGRICULTURE SECTOR IN
KENYA
 Kenya’s economic growth built on Vision 2030 policy blue print
 Aims at transforming the country into an industrialized middle
income country providing high quality of life to its citizens by 2030
 As we achieve the vision, we will meet broader development
inspirations including Millennium Development Goals. MDG 1
 Agriculture identified as a key contributor to the economic pillar
 Agriculture targets to maintain a sustained growth rate of 10% per
annum from 2012 for 25 years.
 Agriculture contributes directly 23% to the country’s GDP and 27%
indirectly through other service sectors e.g. manufacturing, trade
 60% of country’s total export revenue is from agriculture,
 75% of rural workforce is in agriculture.
 Hence critical tool for employment creation and poverty reduction.

3.  Our staple food is maize.
 Our country is 80% arid and semi arid
 Irrigation potential is only 20 % exploited
 There is over dependence on rain fed agriculture.
Agriculture sector development is done through
Public-Private partnerships involving multiple
stakeholders in the public and private sectors.

4. Characteristics of the smallholders
 They comprise about 80 % of our farmer
 Continuous land fragmentation boosts SSF
 Low levels of production. due low level use of
appropriate technologies e.g. fertilizers, seeds.
 Low returns to investment due to low levels of
operation. Seasonal Production
 Most agriculture products sold in raw form with
minimal value addition .
 Marginal beneficiaries in value chains

5. Challenges of SSF
 Inadequate access to credit ,ie difficult to meet
financier requirements
 Inadequate access to markets
 Highly fluctuating and generally low prices esp where
farmers are not organised to groups .
 Inadequate access to services (eg. Extension, financial,
research, market information etc)
 Inadequate access to appropriate technology

6. Collective action
 In order to address above agriculture characteristics
and challenges, the ministry of agriculture promotes
enterprise development through enterprise Interest
Groups (CIGs). The ultimate aim is to have these
producer organizations transformed into
cooperatives.
 Most groups are enterprise based.

7. Benefits of Farmer enterprise
interest groups cont..
Access to profitable markets .
 Gk policies recognizes the role of coops /group in
marketing
 Bulk their produce in a collection centre and hence make it
easier for the traders to pick thus reducing transaction cost
 Bargain for a fairer price
 Enhance product quality by implementing quality control
systems
 Participate in Fair Trade and other pro-producer programs
with the attendant benefits
 Sign contracts with buyers and hence reduce the price
uncertainty
 Transport their produce to more profitable markets and thus
get a better price

8. Benefits of Farmer associations
cont..
Access to credit and other financial services
 Group guarantee
 Through Savings and Credit Cooperatives
(SACCOs),members can access credit even for agric
production .
 Some GK related loans have been channeled through
coops e.g. coffee dev fund and stabex fund.

9. Benefits of farmer groups cont..
Increased access to extension and other services
 Some farmer associations engage extension service
providers
 More cost effective for service providers to reach the
producers when they are organised into groups
 Better articulation of needs

10. Benefits of farmer groups cont..
 Ensure traceability and other quality assurance
measures are export market requirements.
 Acquire the relevant certification for both local super
markets(Kenya GAPS) and export market(global
GAPS). It is easy in groups such . E.g. of farmer
association processors are New Kcc, Githunguri dairy,
Meru DCU for milk.
 Certification for markets is done by Government
related bodies namely Kenya Bureau of Standards,
Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service and
Horticultural Crops Development Authority.

11. Value addition as part of marketing
in Kenya
 About 80% of our agricultural products are marketed
in raw form.
 Policies and incentives however have been put in
place to promote value addition.
 Value addition levels for some crops include:
tea at 8%, mangos 10%, passion fruits 20% and Irish
potatoes at 40% which are fried to chips in urban
areas.

12. Value addition as part of marketing
in Kenya cont..
 Most horticultural produce (vegetables and fruits)
goes to domestic market in fresh form about 95% and
the other 5% goes to the export market.

13. Trade as means of marketing
 Kenya’s export crops are tea, coffee and
horticulture(fruits, vegetables and flowers).
 Kenya belongs to two main regional trading
arrangements i.e. COMESA and EAC.
 The above two regional blocks offer a market for the
products which we have a competitive advantage.
 The above RTA have customs union which allow for
common external tariffs (0,10,25%) and a common
market.

14. Thank you.
May God bless you