The good, the bad and the ugly side of Kenya's maize sector

Maize, A Kenyan 'Darling' dish

source:food stampede

Wait a minute!!! These are my county men and women scrambling for maize flour.  This happened after a subsidy on maize flour was issued with a restriction of 2 packets of Flour per buyer. But why do we subject ourselves to such hustle amidst cheaper alternatives.  The case of Maize flour shortage in Kenya is a case of mismanagement and insatiable maize consumption from Kenyans. 

The the problem we have as a country, over dependence on maize  as a staple food. Whereas eating Ugali on almost daily basis for most households in Kenya sounds very Kenyan is not economically rational being that there are cheaper alternatives,  on average Kenyan spends  a lot on Unga compared to other alternatives. Crop diversification gives a good solution to perennial maize problem. The hard question is;  are Kenyans willing to make a change in preference or  trade off in their food basket.  Having said that let try to see how the maize sector looks like.

Mention food security and any Kenyan will give you maize.  Maize is the most cultivated crop in the country. this makes it very important politically, economically and culturally.  Despite continuous intervention from the Government to ensure maize security, the efforts has yielded very volatile climate for maize in terms of market availability and price volatility. This has rendered small holder maize farmers to be extremely vulnerable to shocks especially climate related shocks.  The rate at which maize is moving from being equated to food security  to be the main source of poverty for many farmers who cultivate it is worrying.  

Maize is the Kenyas staple food and enough supply of the commodity is equated to food  security. However due to poor soils, bad weather and over reliance on rain fed agriculture, maize production has proven to be too risky for farmers. In fact in some seasons farmers loses the whole crop to pests and diseases. Last year many farmers suffered losses  due to Fall Armyworm outbreak.This culminated to flooding the market with cheap maize imports from the neighbours who happen to have a comparative advantage in the production of maize. A dilemma exists on how to keep the prices as low as possible for the consumers at the same time creating incentives for more maize production and increase productivity. Continuous supply of maize throughout the year to ensure food security is politically, socially and economically imperative.

STATE INTERVENTION ON MAIZE SECTOR

The role of government is crucial in protecting both the consumers and the producers. The input subsidy program has been there since and its  proving too expensive. Despite the implementation of the subsidy program, Kenya still experience food shortage. We can say the bad seasons out do the good seasons culminating to net food shortage. A case in point is when the shortage happened last year and Government was forced to move with speed to allow import of maize so as to cushion consumers from high food prices. 

Whereas as a country we should be thinking of  how farmers graduate from the subsidy program, the maize problems are not ending soon. Its unfortunate that when farmers have bumper harvest, there is no market for their maize produce since the market is flooded with cheap imports and the grain reserves are up to capacity. Powerful actors have been able to ‘tilt the playing field’, framing the problem in such a way as to demand the type of solution that they already have to offer. Worse still the politics surrounding the crop are unfathomable though i don't want to dwell so much on politics. The important question is do we have a solution to this perennial maize problem, how can farmers  increase their revenues and curb the problem of inadequate food production.

Is "hand shake" a possible solution for maize production: contract farming

Maize is equated to food security, contract farming is suggested to be a solution to cushion the country from being basic food importer, however, the loopholes for such an arrangement are many and monitoring to ensure that the maize supplied to the grain reserves (NCPB) is from genuine farmers is difficult.  Kenya is also faced by cheap maize from Uganda and Tanzania so businessmen will always grasp the opportunity and make abnormal profits.

In the event of contract farming the production risks are shared among the producers and the buyers of the produce. It reduces the transaction costs in the food supply chain as well as solving the problem of market imperfections by linking farmers to the market. 

Success stories of contract farming are evidenced in the high valued crops - horticultural crops mostly fruits, vegetables and animal products destined for export market. Contract-farming leads to higher productivity, higher profits and higher net farm incomes; that it reduces price variability and leads to higher income stability; that it increases farmers’ subjective well being; and that it can create productivity spillover effects to other crops. Overwhelming evidence point out that contract improve access to inputs, credit, advanced technology, improves farm productivity and income. The question is can this be replicated for our darling maize sector?

There is very few evidence on contract-farming in staple food chains and chains connecting farmers to domestic markets. Contract enforcement is difficult for food staples in times of drought. The breach of such a contract and the probability of unprincipled sales is quite high since most staples are not highly perishable hence relatively easy to store and transport. 
In contract enforcement price premium is common, this is not possible in staples since quality upgrading and specialised value addition is almost impossible in staples. buyers of the staple are less quality sensitive, markets are widely spread and characteristics of spot markets overshadows the contract traits in food chains.  Therefore contract maize farming is nearly impossible in Kenya however it may look as the most lucrative solution to our darling maize sector

Diversification as a solution to perennial maize sector shocks.
Maize is the most popular crop for food for almost all rural households in Kenya. Maize has dragged the overall agricultural GDP. Whereas other agricultural sub sector appears to be vibrant, maize sector has dragged along by all standards. Government through farm input subsidy program encouraged smallholder farmers to be food self-sufficient by increasing maize production at the expense of other crops. Fertiliser subsidy program encourages  farmers to devote more land and other resources to maize cultivation. Consequently farmers are discouraged from diversifying an adaptation strategy to most form of shocks and vulnerabilities.

Whichever way one may look at it maize over dependence has always and will always increase households vulnerability to climate change shocks.  Input subsidy program is not only expensive but also discourages diversification by encouraging farmers to depend on a single crop -maize. The drive to maximise aggregate maize production as the primary route to national food security conflicts with and ultimately  on farm crop diversification activity as a climate adaptation strategy.

Despite most expert advice favouring diversification as a strategy to mitigate climate shocks and favour sustainable farming systems, the fertiliser subsidy program seems to strengthen dependence on a single crop. a move away from diversification. Crop diversification as a strategy to reduce maize dependence represent a faithful strategy to safeguard rural livelihoods in the context of uncertain climates. 

A multi stakeholder approach gives a consensus support to Crop diversification. Climate change project planners view diversification as a way to  ‘cushion’ against adverse climatic shocks, farmers view it  as a means to ensure food security,  extension officials view it as an entry point for improving soil health, and by donors as a ‘means to improve the nutritional status of a society deeply wedded to maize food products.

Nevertheless, major challenges remain, not least the political, economic and cultural dominance of maize. The narrative of crop diversification for climate change adaptation is thus confronted by ‘the political imperative to ensure food security, which is equated with having enough maize at both national and household levels’ as well as ‘a strong cultural orientation that equates food with maize’

While the initial aim was to ‘kick start farmers into using higher yielding hybrid seed and

inorganic fertilisers’ as a way to break the low maize productivity trap, the programme has also functioned as a social protection mechanism that has reduced the need for food aid  however ‘the input subsidy programme has failed to promote crop diversification even though it was designed as such. Its high time efforts need to be made to wean farmers and consumers from maize over dependence trap. In fact the Some of the huge investment dedicated to fertiliser subsidy should instead be used to promote crop diversification.