BY RICHARD GITHAIGASTATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE KENYADURING MEAS SYMPOSIUM WASHINGTON DC 4 JUNE 2015

1. Kenya’s Agricultural Extension Services
Issues, Challenges, Future Perspectives
BY RICHARD GITHAIGA
STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
KENYA
DURING MEAS SYMPOSIUM WASHINGTON DC 4 JUNE 2015

2. Extension providers in Kenya
• public sector (central and local Governments,
SOEs, research and training institutions)
• Cooperatives
• private companies
• NGOs, FBOs, and CBOs.

3. Extension Delivery Models
1. Offering free public extension services, mostly
to smallholder farmers
2. Partial cost shared provision of extension
services,
3. Fully commercialised mostly private
companies, Cooperatives and quasi-public
organisations.

4. Challenges
• Declining human resources
• Declining financial resources
• Uncoordinated/Unregulated pluralistic extension
services delivery
• Poor linkages with other market services.

5. Devolution Challenges
Extension devolved since 2013
• Local decision-makers/legislators, not appreciating
the importance of extension
• Diversion of extension budget to quick return
activities and infrastructure projects.
• Assigning of extension staff to non extension tasks
• Hiring of non-agriculture personnel for agricultural
extension positions.

6. Future perspectives
• Regulation of pluralistic extension services
 National stakeholders fora (KeFAAS)
launched
 Guidelines and standards being developed
 Legal framework to be developed
• Contracting out of extension services to the
private sector with farmer empowerment
• Making use of information technology
• Stakeholder driven trust fund

7. END
THANK YOU