BAG 1102 INTRODUCTION TO AGRICULTURE/ BAG 1101 INTRODUCTION TO

KENYA’S AGRICULTURE
LECTURE NOTES DR.MUREITHI
 Agriculture helps to meet the basic needs of human and their civilization by
providing food, clothing,shelters, medicine and recreation
 Agriculture provides food, feed, fibre, fuel, furniture, raw materials and materials for
and from factories;

AN INTRODUCTION TO AGRICULTURE
A. Terminology
 Agriculture is derived from Latin words Ager and Cultura.
 Ager means land or field and Cultura means cultivation.
 Therefore the term agriculture means cultivation of land. i.e., the science and art of
producing crops and livestock for economic purposes.
 It is also referred as the science of producing crops and livestock from the natural
resources of the earth.
 The primary aim of agriculture is to cause the land to produce more abundantly, and
at the same time, to protect it from deterioration and misuse. It is synonymous with
farming–the production of food, fodder and other industrial materials.
B. Definitions
 Agriculture is defined in the Agriculture Act 1947, as including ‘horticulture, fruit
growing, seed growing, dairy farming and livestock breeding and keeping, the use of
land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens and nursery grounds,
and the use of land for woodlands where that use ancillary to the farming of land for
Agricultural purposes”.
 It is also defined as ‘purposeful work through which elements in nature are
harnessed to produce plants and animals to meet the human needs. It is a biological
production process, which depends on the growth and development of selected
plants and animals within the local environment.

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 C. Agriculture as art, science and business of crop production
 Agriculture is defined as the art, the science and the business of producing crops and
the livestock for economic purposes.
 As an art, it embraces knowledge of the way to perform the operations of the farm
in a skillful manner. The skill is categorized as;
o Physical skill: It involves the ability and capacity to carry out the operation in
an efficient way for e.g., handling of farm implements, animals etc., sowing of
seeds, fertilizer and pesticides application etc.
o Mental skill: The farmer is able to take a decision based on experience, such
as (i) time and method of ploughing, (ii) selection of crop and cropping
system to suit soil and climate, (iii) adopting improved farm practices etc.
 As a science : It utilizes all modern technologies developed on scientific principles
such as crop improvement/breeding, crop production, crop protection, economics
etc., to maximize the yield and profit. For example, new crops and varieties
developed by hybridization, transgenic crop varieties resistant to pests and
diseases, hybrids in each crop, high fertilizer responsive varieties, water
management, herbicides to control weeds, use of bio-control agents to combat pest
and diseases etc.
 As the business : As long as agriculture is the way of life of the rural population,
production is ultimately bound to consumption. But agriculture as a business aims
at maximum net return through the management of land, labour, water and capital,
employing the knowledge of various sciences for production of food, feed, fibre and
fuel. In recent years, agriculture is commercialized to run as a business through
mechanization.

BRANCHES OF AGRICULTURE
 Agriculture has 3 main spheres viz., Geoponic (Cultivation in earth-soil), Aeroponic
(cultivation in air) and Hydroponic (cultivation in water).

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  Agriculture is the branch of science encompassing the applied aspects of basic
sciences. The applied aspect of agricultural science consists of study of field crops
and their management (Arviculture) including soil management.
a) Crop production - It deals with the production of various crops, which includes
food crops, fodder crops, fibre crops, sugar, oil seeds, etc. It includes agronomy, soil
science, entomology, pathology, microbiology, etc. The aim is to have better food
production and how to control the diseases.
b) Horticulture - Branch of agriculture deals with the production of flowers, fruits,
vegetables, ornamental plants, spices, condiments (includes narcotic crops-opium,
etc., which has medicinal value) and beverages.
c) Agricultural Engineering - It is an important component for crop production and
horticulture particularly to provide tools and implements. It is aiming to produce
modified tools to facilitate proper animal husbandry and crop production tools,
implements and machinery in animal production.
d) Forestry - It deals with production of large scale cultivation of perennial trees for
supplying wood, timber, rubber, etc. and also raw materials for industries.
e) Animal Husbandry - The animals being produced, maintained, etc. Maintenance of
various types of livestock for direct energy (work energy). Husbandry is common
for both crop and animals. The objective is to get maximum output by feeding,
rearing, etc. The arrangement of crops is done to get minimum requirement of light
or air. This arrangement is called geometry. Husbandry is for direct and indirect
energy.
f) Fishery Science - It is for marine fish and inland fishes including shrimps and
prawns.
g) Home Science - Application and utilization of agricultural produces in a better
manner. When utilization is enhanced production is also enhanced. e.g., a crop once
in use in south was found that it had many uses now.

On integration, all the seven branches, first three is grouped as for crop production group
and next two for animal management and last two as allied agriculture branches. Broadly
in practice, agriculture is grouped in four major categories as,
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 A. Crop Improvement i. Plant breeding and genetics
ii. Bio-technology
B. Crop Management i. Agronomy
ii. Soil Science and Agricultural
Chemistry
iii. Seed technology
iv. Agricultural Microbiology
v. Crop-Physiology
vi. Agricultural Engineering
vii. Environmental Sciences
viii. Agricultural Meteorology
C. Crop Protection i. Agricultural Entomology
ii. Plant Pathology
iii. Nematology
D. Social Sciences i. Agricultural Extension
ii. Agricultural Economics
Allied disciplines i. Agricultural Statistics
ii. English and Tamil
iii. Mathematics
iv. Bio-Chemistry etc.

DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE

Early man depended on hunting, fishing and food gathering. To this day, some groups still
pursue this simple way of life and others have continued as roving herdsmen. However, as
various groups of men undertook deliberate cultivation of wild plants and domestication of
wild animals, agriculture came into being. Cultivation of crops, notably grains such as
wheat, rice, barley and millets, encouraged settlement of stable farm communities, some of
which grew into a town or city in various parts of the world. Early agricultural implements-
digging stick, hoe, scythe and plough-developed slowly over the centuries and each

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innovation caused profound changes in human life. From early times too, men created
indigenous systems of irrigation especially in semi-arid areas and regions of periodic
rainfall.

Farming was intimately associated with landholding and therefore with political
organization.
Growth of large estates involved the use of slaves and bound or semi-free labourers. As the
Middle Ages wanted increasing communications, the commercial revolution and the steady
rise of cities in Western Europe tended to turn agriculture away from subsistence farming
towards the growing of crops for sale outside the community i.e., commercial agricultural
revolution. Exploration and intercontinental trade as well as scientific investigations led to
the development of agricultural knowledge of various crops and the exchange of
mechanical devices such as the sugar mill and Eli Whitney’s cotton gin helped to support
the system of large plantations based on a single crop.

The industrial revolution, after the late 18th century, swelled the population of towns and
cities and increasingly forced agriculture into greater integration with general economic
and financial patterns.
The era of mechanized agriculture began with the invention of such farm machines as the
reaper, cultivator, thresher, combine harvesters and tractors, which continued to appear
over; the years leading to a new type of large scale agriculture. Modern science has also
revolutionized food processing. Breeding programmes have developed highly specialized
animal, plant and poultry varieties thus increasing production efficiency greatly. All over
the world, agricultural colleges and government agencies attempt to increase output by
disseminating knowledge of improved agricultural practices through the release of new
plant and animal types and by continuous intensive research into basic and applied
scientific principles relating to agricultural production and economics.

History of Agriculture
Excavations, legends and remote sensing tests reveal that agriculture is 10,000 years old.
Women by their intrinsic insight first observed that plants come up from seeds. Men
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concentrated on hunting and gathering (Paleolithic and Neolithic periods) during that time.
Women were the pioneers for cultivating useful plants from the wild flora. They dug out
edible roots and rhizomes and buried the small ones for subsequent harvests. They used
animal meat as main food and their skin for clothing. The following Table 1.1 gives an idea
about agriculture development scenario.
Table 1.1. Agriculture Development Scenario
Agricultural System Cultural stage Average cereal World Per capita land
or time yield t/ha population availability (ha)
(millions)
Hunting and Paleolithic – 7 –
Gathering
Shifting Neolithic 1 35 40.00
Agriculture (about 7,000
B.C.)
Medieval 500–1450 A.D. 1 900 01.50
Agriculture
Livestock farming 18th Century 2 1800 00.70
Fertilizer/Pesticide 20th Century 4 4200 00.30
in
Agriculture

A. Shifting Cultivation
A primitive form of agriculture in which people working with the crudest of tools, cut down
a part of the forest, burnt the underneath growth and started new garden sites. After few
years, when these plots lost their fertility or became heavily infested with weeds or soil-
borne pests, they shifted to a new site. This is also known as Assartage system (cultivating
crops till the land is completely worn-out) contrary to the fallow system. Fallow system
means land is allowed for a resting period without any crop.
B. Subsidiary Farming

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Rudimentary system of settled farming, which includes cultivation, gathering and hunting.
People in
groups started settling down near a stream or river as permanent village sites and started
cultivating in the same land more continuously, however the tools, crops and cropping
methods were primitive.

C. Subsistence Farming
Advanced form of primitive agriculture i.e., agriculture is considered as a way of life based
on the principle of “Grow it and eat it” instead of growing crops on a commercial basis.
Hence, it is referred as raising the crops only for family needs.
D. Mixed Farming
It is the farming comprising of crop and animal components. Field crop-grass husbandry
(same field was used both for cropping and later grazing) was common. It is a stage
changing from food gathering to food growing.
E. Advanced Farming
Advanced farming practices includes selection of crops and varieties, seed selection, green
manuring with legumes, crop rotation, use of animal and crop refuse as manures, irrigation,
pasture management, rearing of milch animals, bullocks, sheep and goat for wool and meat,
rearing of birds by stall feeding etc.
F. Scientific Agriculture (19th Century)
During 18th century, modern agriculture was started with crop sequence, organic
recycling, introduction of exotic crops and animals, use of farm implements in agriculture
etc. During 19th century, research and development (R&D) in fundamental and basic
sciences were brought under applied aspects of agriculture. Agriculture took the shape of a
teaching science. Laboratories, farms, research stations, research centres, institutes for
research, teaching and extension (training and demonstration) were developed. Books,
journals, popular and scientific articles, literatures were introduced. New media, and audio-
visual aids were developed to disseminate new research findings and information to the
rural masses.
G. Present Day Agriculture (21st Century)

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Today agriculture is not merely production oriented but is becoming a business consisting
of various enterprises like livestock (dairy), poultry, fishery, piggery, sericulture, apiary,
plantation cropping etc.
Now, a lot of developments on hydrological, mechanical, chemical, genetical and
technological aspects of agriculture are in progress. Governments are apportioning a
greater share of national budget for agricultural development. Small and marginal farmers
are being supplied with agricultural inputs on subsidy. Policies for preserving, processing,
pricing, marketing, distributing, consuming, exporting and importing are strengthening.
Agro-based small scale industries and crafts are fast developing. Need based agricultural
planning, programming and execution are in progress.

Global Agriculture
Advancement of civilization is closely related to agriculture, which produces food to satisfy
hunger.
The present food production must double to maintain the status quo. However, nearly one
billion people are living below poverty line and civilized society should ensure food for
these people. Some allowance should be made for increased consumption as a consequence
of raising incomes in third would countries. Therefore, the increased food production
should aim at trebling food production in the next century.

Development of scientific agriculture in world

Van Helmont (1577-1644AD)
 initiated experiments pertaining to plant nutrition in a system1tic way and
concluded that water is the main principle of vegetation.
Jethro Tull (1674-1741 AD)
 He conducted several experiments which were mostly on cultural practices.
 He developed seed drill and horse drawn cultivator.
 He published a book entitled „Horse hoeing husbandry’
Aurthur Young (1760-1820 AD)

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  He conducted pot culture experiment to increase yield of crops by applying several
materials like poultry dung, nitre, gun powder etc.
 He published his work in 46 volumes as „Annals of Agriculture’.
 In 1809, soil science began with the formation of humus theory.
Scientific Research in agronomy
 started with the establishment of the first experiment station by J.B. Boussingault in
Alsace in 1834 and was given further impetus by Gilbert and Lawes by establishing
the famous research facility at Rothamsted (Rothamsted Experiment Station),
England.
 Agronomy has been a distinct and recognized branch of agricultural sciences only
since about 1900.
 The American Society of Agronomy was organized in 1908. It had its origins largely
in the sciences of botany, chemistry, and physics.
Research in plant nutrition and physiology was started in 18th century.
Sir Humphry Davy (1813) published his book „Elements of Agricultural Chemistry.
Sir Johan Bennet Lawes began to experiment on the effects of manures on crops.
Justus Von Liebig (1840)
 He started a truly scientific approach to farming. His classical work on agricultural
chemistry and physiology launched systematic development of agriculture.
Lawes (1842) patented a process of treating phosphate rock to produce super phosphate
and thus, initiated the synthetic fertilizer industry.
Systematic selection of cereal varieties according to predicted yield was commenced in
the 18th century.
Gregor Johann Mendel (1866)
 He discovered the laws of heredity and the ways to cause mutations.
 It led to Modern Plant Breeding.
 Application of genetics to develop new strains of plants and animals brought major
changes in agriculture.
Charles Darwin (1876) published the results of experiments on cross and self fertilization
in plants.

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Mechanization took hold in Western Europe and the newly settled countries only after
1850. An efficient seed drill was devised in 1830s. In1892, the first successful tractor was
built in US. Farm implements and machinery were manufactured industrially on a large
scale by 1930s.
The electricity was applied to agricultural operations due to increase economic pressure
and decrease in labour availability in 1920s.
The first successful large scale conquest of a pest by chemical means was the control of
grape vine powdery mildew in Europe in 1840s.
Dr Paul Muller first synthesized DDT in 1874.
Major advances in the study of plant diseases were recorded in 19th century.
Application of agricultural economics and scientific management of farm commenced
in German speaking countries early in the 19th century.
The US Congress set up Department of Agriculture and provided college of Agriculture
in each state. The key data in the history of agricultural research and education was
published by the US in 1862.
Zimmerman and Hitchcock (1942) reported that 2,4-D could act as growth promoter at
extremely low concentration. Now 2,4-D is used to overcome the problem of seediness in
Poovan banana.
In 1945, herbicide 2,4,5-T was developed.
In 1954, Gibberlic acid structure was identified by Japanese.
In 1950’s Bennet and Clark identified ABA (Abscessic acid), which inhibits plant growth
and controls shedding of plant parts.

Agriculture and the Economy

Agriculture, the mainstay of Kenya’s economy, currently contributes 26 per cent of the GDP
directly and another 25 per cent indirectly. The sector also accounts for 65 per cent of
Kenya’s total exports and provides more than 18 per cent of formal employment. More
than 70 per cent of informal employment is in the rural areas.
The agricultural sector comprises six subsectors—industrial crops, food crops,
horticulture, livestock, fisheries and forestry—and employs such factors of production as
land, water and farmer institutions (cooperatives, associations). Industrial crops contribute
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17 per cent of the AgGDP and 55 per cent of agricultural exports. Horticulture, which has
recorded a remarkable export-driven growth in the past 5 years and is now the largest
subsector, contributes 33 per cent of the AgGDP and 38 per cent of export earnings. Food
crops contribute 32 per cent of the AgGDP but only 0.5 per cent of exports, while the
livestock subsector contributes 17 per cent of the AgGDP and 7 per cent of exports.
Livestock and fisheries subsectors have huge potential for growth that has not been
exploited

Agriculture is the dominant sector of our economy & contributes in various ways such as:
 National Economy: It is the backbone of national economy because it contributes a
major portion of national income.
 Employment generation: Majority of population is working & depends on
agriculture and allied activities. The rural population earns its livelihood from
agriculture and other occupation allied to agriculture. In cities also, a considerable
part of labor force is engaged in jobs depending on processing & marketing of
agricultural products.
 Industrial Inputs: Most of the industries depend on the raw material produced by
agriculture, so agriculture is the principal source of raw material to the industries.
The industries like cotton textile, jute, paper, sugar depends totally on agriculture
for the supply of raw material. The small scale and cottage industries like handloom
and power loon, ginning and pressing, oil crushing, rice husking, sericulture fruit
processing, etc are also mainly agro based industries.
 Food Supply: It plays an important role in feeding the growing population.
 State Revenue: The agriculture is contributing the revenue by agriculture taxation
includes direct tax and indirect tax. Direct tax includes land revenue, cesses and
surcharge on land revenue, cesses on crops & agril. income tax. Indirect tax induces
sales tax, custom duty and local octri, etc. which farmer pay on purchase of
agriculture inputs.

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  Trade: Agriculture plays an important role in foreign trade attracting valuable
foreign exchange, necessary for our economic development. Indian agriculture also
plays an important role in roads, rails & waterways outside the countries. Indian
roads, rails and waterways used to transport considerable amount of agril. produce
and agro based industrial products.
Weather and soil elements and their effect on crop growth
Crop growth is defined as irreversible increase in size, measured as dry weight which
occurs throughout the crop life cycle.
It may be expressed in terms of dry weight, length, height or diameter. Crop development is
the progression through the morphological changes which occur during growth of the crop.
It is more readily described qualitatively than quantitatively. For example, development of
a crop plant from germination to maturity.
Weather elements
i) Air temperature
ii) Solar radiation
iii) Precipitation
iv) wind
v) Composition of the atmosphere
Effect of weather elements on crop growth
i) Air temperature: It is a measure of intensity of heat. Temperature required for the
growth is ranging from 5 to 45 0 C. It directly influences photosynthesis, respiration,
cell wall permeability, nutrient and water absorption, transpiration, enzyme activity
and protein coagulation.
ii) Solar Radiation: This is the radiant energy from the sun, measured as a total
amount (direct solar plus sky radiation) expressed in cal cm-2 min-1 measured by
pyrheliometer. For photosynthesis, only visible part of the total solar energy is of
importance. Photosynthesis in green leaves use solar energy in wavelengths from
0.4 to 0.7 m often referred to as photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) or simply
light. Radiant energy influences the protoplasm permeability, intake and loss of
water, enzyme activity, respiration, photosynthesis, flower initiation and ripening of

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 fruits. Three aspects of light-intensity (quantity), duration (day length) and quality
(spectral distribution).
iii) Precipitation: The essential requirement of water for plant growth can be
visualized from the fact that it may constitute 70-95% of total fresh weight when it
is actively growing. Precipitation is the major source of soil moisture for crop
growth in dry regions during rainy season. A number of physiological processes in
crop growth is affected due to water stress. Cell growth, cell wall and protein
synthesis are adversely affected by the stress. Stomatal closure due to water stress
restrict CO2 intake leading to reduced photosynthesis. Precipitation also influences
atmospheric humidity. High humidity can increase the risk of disease and pest
outbreak. Consequences of high intensity rains of long duration (floods) on crop
production are well established.
iv) Wind: Plant responses to wind. Wind over the crop surface can alter the onset of
drought during dry periods due to water vapor loss through transpiration. This may
lead to stomatal closure and reduce rate of gaseous exchange leading to reduced
photosynthesis and crop growth. Strong winds in association with rain can cause
lodging, particularly at flowering in cereals. Provision of windbreaks in exposed
areas can minimize the adverse effects of high wind speed. Growth of plants, in
general, seems to be inhibited at wind speeds above 10kmph. However, there are
individual variations.
v) Composition of the atmosphere: Certain gases, such as sulphur dioxide
(SO2),carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrofluoric acid (HF) when released into air in
sufficient quantities are toxic to plants. Acid rain is often due to relatively high
concentrations of surphur dioxide and sulphates. Some of the effects that acid rain
can have on plants and soil include increased leaching of inorganic nutrients,
damage to leaves at pH<3, reduced microbial activity, reduced availability of soil
nitrogen, etc. Injury to vegetation by fluorine released during the manufacture of
metallic aluminum and the production of phosphatic fertilizers has been reported
Soil elements
i) Soil air
ii) Soil temperature
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 iii) Soil moisture
iv) Soil reaction (pH) and
v) Mineral nutrient supply
Soil can be defined as: Soil is a thin layer of the earth‟s crust which serves as a natural
medium for the growth of plants. Soils are formed by the disintegrations & decomposition
of parent rocks due to weathering and the action of soil organisms & also the interaction of
various chemical substances present in the soil. Soil is formed from parent rock by the
process of weathering over a long period by the action of rain water, temperature and plant
& animal residues. A vertical cut of 1.5 to 2 m deep soil indicates a layer varying from a few
cm to about 30 cm of soil, called surface soil, elbow that a layer of sub soil & at the bottom,
the unrecompensed material which is the parent rock.
Role of soil:
i) Soil is the natural media to grow the crop.
ii) Soil gives the mechanical support & act as an anchor,
iii) Soil supplies the nutrients to the crop plants,
iv) Soil conserves the moisture which is supplies to the crop plants
v) Soil is an abode (house) of millions of living organisms which act on plant residues &
release food material to plants
vi) Soil provides aeration for growth of crop and decomposition of organic matter
Effect of soil elements on crop growth
i) Soil air : The percentage by volume of soil occupied by air under field conditions or
at a given suction has been suggested as a measure of soil aeration status. As a rule,
higher the bulk density, more compact the soil and smaller the amount of pore
space. This situation restricts the plant growth due to its influence on root as well as
shoot growth. High bulk densities inhibit the emergence of seedlings, increase
mechanical resistance to root penetration and decrease the O2 supply to root
system resulting in poor growth and yield of crops. Crops differ widely in their
sensitivity to O2 supply.
ii) Soil temperature: It influences root growth and functions. The rate of germination
and emergence depends on soil temperature, as this can determine the survival of

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 seedlings in rapidly loosing soil moisture after sowing. Since most seeds are sown a
depth of 2 to 5 cm, soil temperature can influence crop establishment.
iii) Soil moisture: Ability of soil to hold water is most important. Soil texture, structure
and depth determine its moisture retention capacity to meet the crop needs. Soil
texture influences its drainage characteristics and risk of erosion. Soil structure
determines its suitability for arable farming. Efficient use of inputs in crop
production depends on optimum levels of soil available moisture.
Functions of water
i) Major component of the plant body (90%)
ii) Act as solvent for dissolving the nutrients & nutrient carrier
iii) Maintains/regulates the temperature of plant & soil as well
iv) Maintains the turgidity of plant cells
v) Essential for absorption of nutrients & metabolic process of the plants
Plant tissues constitute about 90% of water. Rain and ground water are the sources of the
water. Ground H2O is reused for irrigation through well, tank or canal, etc. Erratic rains are
to be conserved properly so that plants make best use of it. Rainwater is to be
supplemented by irrigation to meet the water requirement of crops for bumper yields.
Water present in the soil helps the plants in many ways
i) Supplies the essential raw material for production of carbohydrates by
photosynthesis
ii) Promotes physical, chemical & biological activities in the soil
iii) Gaseous diffusion in soil for proper aeration
Water is the life of plant and must be supplied in proper quantity. Too much water may
suffocate the plant roots & too little may not be able to sustain the plant. The water
requirement of crops differs from crop to crop & variety to variety as well, depending upon
the growth habit, genetically & physiological make up, duration of the crop, etc. For
example, sugarcane, rice, banana, wheat, groundnut, etc. are the high water requiring crops
& Jowar, Mung, udid, Tur, gram, bajra etc. are the low water requiring crops.
iv) Soil reaction (pH): Availability of plant nutrients depends on soil reaction. Acid
soils with high Fe, Al, and Mn decrease the availability of phosphorus. Availability of
Mo declines with decrease in pH. Ammonical fertilizers left on soil surface are
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 subjected to loss by volatilization at pH more than 7. Water soluble phosphate will
be converted into unavailable form around pH 8.
v) Mineral nutrient supply: Capacity of the soil to supply essential plant nutrient
elements has profound influence on crop production. Soil analysis provides
estimates of the levels of available nutrients for determining the suitability of a soil
for a particular crop and in formulating more precisely the fertilizer requirements.
Crops and livestock distribution
 Grain distribution-maize millet, sorghum, wheat, barley, cassava, rice
 Industrial crops- These include cotton, sunflower, pyrethrum, barley, tobacco, sisal,
coconut, cashew, tea, coffee, sugar
 Livestock-pig, poultry, dairy cow, beef cattle, sheep and goat.

CLIMATE AND AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONES

Climate, vegetation and land use potential have been used to assess land suitability for
different uses.
Kenya is divided into 7 agro-climatic zones using a moisture index based on annual rainfall
expressed as a percentage of potential evaporation.
Areas with an index greater than 50% have high potential for cropping, and are designated
zones I, II, and III. These zones account for 12% of Kenya`s land area.
The semi-humid to arid regions (zones IV,V,VI, and VII) have indexes of less than 50% and
a mean annual rainfall of less than 1100 mm.
These zones are generally referred to as the Kenyan rangelands and account for 88% of the
land area

Moisture availability zones in Kenya with rainfall and proportion of land

Moisture Annual Land

Agro - Climatic Zone Classification Index Rainfall Area
(%) (mm) (%)

1100-
I Humid >80
2700

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 1000-
II Sub-humid 65 - 80 12
1600

800-
III Semi-humid 50 - 65
1400

Semi-humid 600-
IV 40 - 50 5
to semi-arid 1100

450-
V Semi-arid 25 - 40 15
900

300-
VI Arid 15 - 25 22
550

150-
VII Very arid <15 46
350

The seven agro-climatic zones are each sub-divided according to mean annual temperature
to identify areas suitable for growing each of Kenya`s major food and cash crops.
Most of the high potential land areas are located above 1200 m altitude and have mean
annual temperatures of below 18° C, while 90% of the semi-arid and arid zones lies below
1260 m and has mean annual temperatures ranging from 22° C to 40° C.

THE AGRO-ECOLOGICAL POTENTIAL

Kenya’s agriculture is determined by factors such as climate, hydrology and terrain. Such
agro-ecological factors also determine the suitability of an area for a particular land use.

Agricultural potential can be classified into high, medium and low.

Intensive cultivation is prevalent in the high-potential highlands where rainfall is high and
soils rich. The high to medium potential land is estimated at 5.3 million ha (20% of total
land in Kenya) and receives consistent rainfall of above 1200 mm annually. Common crops
include tea, coffee, sugarcane, maize and wheat. A lot of pressure from the fast growing
population is exerted on high- and medium-potential areas

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Approximately 59% of the soils in Kenya have moderate to high natural fertility making
them suitable for growing a large variety of crops. Productivity is curtailed because only
17% of the country receives average rainfall of more than 800 mm per annum—the
minimum requirement for rainfed agriculture.

The ASAL area comprising agro-ecological zones IV to VII is approximately 49 million

hectares (ha). It covers most parts of the
northern, eastern, and southern margins of the central Kenya highlands. In some areas
there are true desert conditions. The semi- arid area covers about 20% of the entire land
area and is inhabited by 20% of the population. The arid area covering 60% of the total
land is inhabited by 10% of the population. In the ASAL, incidences of crop failure are
common. The predominant land- use systems are ranching, wildlife conservation and
pastoralism.
The distribution of the agro-ecological potential in Kenya
Agro-ecological Potential land use Area (‘000’ ha) Percent
zones of total
land
I–III Medium to high: agriculture, livestock 8,600 15
(intensive), forestry and water catchment
IV–V Marginal to medium: agriculture (drought- 11,500 20
tolerant crops), forestry, livestock
(ranching),
and wildlife conservation
VI–VII Marginal: livestock (extensive pastrolism) 37,400 65
and wildlife conservation

LAND TENURE AND USE SYSTEMS

Land tenure

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Land tenure is the relationship, whether legally or customarily defined, among people, as
individuals or groups, with respect to land. Rules of tenure define how property rights to
land are to be allocated within societies. They define how access is granted to rights to use,
control, and transfer land, as well as associated responsibilities and restraints.

Land tenure is an important part of social, political and economic structures. Land tenure
relationships may be well-defined and enforceable in a formal court of law or through
customary structures in a community. Alternatively, they may be relatively poorly defined
with ambiguities open to exploitation.

Land tenure is often categorised as:

 Private: the assignment of rights to a private party who may be an individual, a

married couple, a group of people, or a corporate body such as a commercial entity
or non-profit organization. For example, within a community, individual families
may have exclusive rights to residential parcels, agricultural parcels and certain
trees. Other members of the community can be excluded from using these resources
without the consent of those who hold the rights.
 Communal: a right of commons may exist within a community where each member
has a right to use independently the holdings of the community. For example,
members of a community may have the right to graze cattle on a common pasture.
 Open access: specific rights are not assigned to anyone and no-one can be excluded.
This typically includes marine tenure where access to the high seas is generally
open to anyone; it may include rangelands, forests, etc, where there may be free
access to the resources for all. (An important difference between open access and
communal systems is that under a communal system non-members of the
community are excluded from using the common areas.)
 State: property rights are assigned to some authority in the public sector. For
example, in some countries, forest lands may fall under the mandate of the state,
whether at a central or decentralised level of government.

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In practice, most forms of holdings may be found within a given society, for example,
common grazing rights, private residential and agricultural holdings, and state ownership
of forests. Customary tenure typically includes communal rights to pastures and exclusive
private rights to agricultural and residential parcels. In some countries, formally
recognised rights to such customary lands are vested in the nation state or the President
“in trust” for the citizens.

The right that a person has in an object such as land may be considered as property. The
range of property is extensive and includes, for example, intellectual property. In the case
of land tenure, it is sometimes described more precisely as property rights to land. A
distinction is often made between “real property” or “immovable property” on the one
hand, and “personal property” or “movable property” on the other hand. In the first case,
property would include land and fixtures (buildings, trees, etc) that would be regarded as
immovable. In the second case, property would include objects not considered fixed to the
land, such as cattle, etc.

In practice, multiple rights can be held by several different persons or groups. This has
given rise to the concept of “a bundle of rights”. Different rights to the same parcel of land,
such as the right to sell the land, the right to use the land through a lease, or the right to
travel across the land, may be pictured as “sticks in the bundle”. Each right may be held by
a different party. The bundle of rights, for example, may be shared between the owner and
a tenant to create a leasing or sharecropping arrangement allowing the tenant or
sharecropper the right to use the land on specified terms and conditions. Tenancies may
range from formal leaseholds of 999 years to informal seasonal agreements. If the farm is
mortgaged, the creditor may hold a right from the “bundle” to recover the unpaid loan
through a sale of the mortgaged property in the case of default. A neighbouring farmer may
have the right from the “bundle” to drive cattle across the land to obtain water at the river.
Box 1 gives some examples of rights.

At times it may be useful to simplify the representation of property rights by identifying:

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  use rights: rights to use the land for grazing, growing subsistence crops, gathering
minor forestry products, etc.
 control rights: rights to make decisions how the land should be used including
deciding what crops should be planted, and to benefit financially from the sale of
crops, etc.
 transfer rights: right to sell or mortgage the land, to convey the land to others
through intra-community reallocations, to transmit the land to heirs through
inheritance, and to reallocate use and control rights.

Very often, the poor in a community have only use rights. A woman, for example, may have
the right to use some land to grow crops to feed the family, while her husband may collect
the profits from selling any crops at the market. While such simplifications can be useful, it
should be noted that the exact manner in which rights to land are actually distributed and
enjoyed can be very complex.

In broad terms, land tenure rights are often classified according to whether they are
“formal” or “informal”. There can be perceptual problems with this approach because, for
example, some so-called informal rights may, in practice, be quite formal and secure in
their own context. Despite these perceptual problems, the classification of formal and
informal tenure can sometimes provide the basis for useful analysis.

Formal property rights may be regarded as those that are explicitly acknowledged by the
state and which may be protected using legal means.

Informal property rights are those that lack official recognition and protection. In some
cases, informal property rights are illegal, i.e., held in direct violation of the law. An extreme
case is when squatters occupy a site in contravention of an eviction notice. In many
countries, illegal property holdings arise because of inappropriate laws. For example, the
minimum size of a farm may be defined by law whereas in practice farms may be much
smaller as a result of informal subdivisions among heirs. Property rights may also be illegal
because of their use, e.g., the illegal conversion of agricultural land for urban purposes.

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In other cases, property may be “extra-legal”, i.e., not against the law, but not recognised by
the law. In some countries, customary property held in rural indigenous communities falls
into this category. A distinction often made is between statutory rights or “formally
recognized rights” on the one hand and customary rights or “traditional rights” on the other
hand. This distinction is now becoming blurred in a number of countries, particularly in
Africa, which provide formal legal recognition to customary rights.

Formal and informal rights may exist in the same holding. For example, in a country that
forbids leasing or sharecropping, a person who holds legally recognized ownership rights
to a parcel may illegally lease out the land to someone who is landless.

These various forms of tenure can create a complex pattern of rights and other interests. A
particularly complex situation arises when statutory rights are granted in a way that does
not take into account existing customary rights (e.g., for agriculture and grazing). This clash
of de jure rights (existing because of the formal law) and de facto rights (existing in reality)
often occurs in already stressed marginal rainfed agriculture and pasture lands. Likewise in
conflict and post-conflict areas, encounters between settled and displaced populations lead
to great uncertainties as to who has, or should have, the control over which rights.

The layers of complexity and potential conflict are likely to be compounded, particularly
where, for example, state ownership is statutorily declared and state grants or leases have
been made without consultation with customary owners (who are not considered illegal),
and where squatters move illegally onto the land, as in figure 2.

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Land administration

Land administration is the way in which the rules of land tenure are applied and made
operational. Land administration, whether formal or informal, comprises an extensive
range of systems and processes to administer:

 land rights: the allocation of rights in land; the delimitation of boundaries of parcels
for which the rights are allocated; the transfer from one party to another through
sale, lease, loan, gift or inheritance; and the adjudication of doubts and disputes
regarding rights and parcel boundaries.
 land-use regulation: land-use planning and enforcement and the adjudication of
land use conflicts.

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  land valuation and taxation: the gathering of revenues through forms of land
valuation and taxation, and the adjudication of land valuation and taxation disputes.

Information on land, people, and their rights is fundamental to effective land

administration since rights to land do not exist in a physical form and they have to be
represented in some way. In a formal legal setting, information on rights, whether held by
individuals, families, communities, the state, or commercial and other organizations, is
often recorded in some form of land registration and cadastre system. In a customary
tenure environment, information may be held, unwritten, within a community through
collective memory and the use of witnesses. In a number of communities, those holding
informal rights may have “informal proofs” of rights, i.e., documents accepted by the
community but not by the formal state administration.

An enforcement or protection component is essential to effective land administration

since rights to land are valuable when claims to them can be enforced. Such a component
allows a person’s recognized rights to be protected against the acts of others. This
protection may come from the state or the community through social consensus as
described below in the section on “Tenure Security”. A stable land tenure regime is one in
which the results of protective actions are relatively easy to forecast. In a formal legal
setting, rights may be enforced through the system of courts, tribunals, etc. In a customary
tenure environment, rights may be enforced through customary leaders. In both cases,
people may be induced to recognise the rights of others through informal mechanisms such
as community pressures. People who know their rights, and know what to do if those rights
are infringed, are more able to protect their rights than those who are less knowledgeable.

Land administration is implemented through sets of procedures to manage information on

rights and their protection, such as:

 Procedures for land rights include defining how rights can be transferred from one
party to another through sale, lease, loan, gift and inheritance.
 Procedures for land use regulation include defining the way in which land use
controls are to be planned and enforced.

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  Procedures for land valuation and taxation include defining methodologies for
valuing and taxing land.

Efficient procedures allow transactions to be completed quickly, inexpensively, and

transparently. However, in many parts of the world, formal land administration procedures
are time-consuming, bureaucratically cumbersome and expensive, and are frequently non-
transparent, inaccessible to much of the rural population, and are handled in languages and
forms that people do not understand. In such cases, high transaction costs may result in
transfers and other dealings taking place off-the-record or informally.

Finally, land administration requires actors to implement the procedures. In customary

tenure regimes, the customary leaders may play the principal role in land administration,
for example in allocating rights and resolving disputes. In a more formal setting, land
administration agencies may include land registries, land surveying, urban and rural
planning, and land valuation and taxation, as well as the court systems. Where customary
tenure has been recognised by the State, functional linkages are being developed between
government and customary land administration bodies.

Formalisation of the administration of land rights has been promoted as a pre-requisite for
economic development. Perceived benefits include increased tenure security and improved
access to credit, thereby providing the incentive and ability for farmers to invest in making
improvements to the land. Formal administration is also proposed as a means to facilitate a
land market, allowing land to move towards its “highest and best use”.

These claims are disputed by others who argue that too often, the flawed design and
implementation of projects to formalise property rights have resulted in a reduction of
security by concentrating rights to a parcel in the hands of an individual, and neglecting the
claims of others, particularly women and other vulnerable groups, who hold partial or
common rights. Similarly, it is argued by some that access to credit may not improve with
formalisation since many banks are unlikely to accept agricultural land as collateral against
loans.

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As a result, it has been suggested that formal registration of individual property rights
should be considered only in areas of high population density, where customary tenure
systems and dispute resolution systems are weak or absent, or where there have been
other major disruptions to customary land holdings. However, even where these conditions
do not exist, there is growing interest in several countries to formalise the rights of
communities to protect them against encroachment from outsiders (e.g., commercial
farming operations and even the State). In such cases, the community boundaries are
defined, and title to the land is registered in the name of the community. It is then left to the
community to undertake its own land administration, including the allocation of rights to
land within its boundaries.

In many countries, formal and informal land administration co-exist when legal records do
not replace customary rights, or when newly created informal rights come into existence.
Tensions can exist between de jure and de facto rights to land. Discrepancies between
formal and informal or customary versions of tenure holdings create ambiguities to be
exploited. In some countries where formal land administration systems do not function
well, different titles may be issued by the State for the same parcel of land. This complicates
the legal status of the land since it gives rise to competing claims. The mere act of
establishing and documenting land boundaries and titles is not enough; it has to be done in
a way that does not make the situation worse. The role of local communities in
investigating claims is crucial as they have the knowledge of the local tenure arrangements.

Access to land

Access to land for the rural poor is often based on custom. Customary rights to land in
indigenous societies, for example, are usually created following their traditions and
through the ways in which community leaders assign land use rights to the community
members. These rights of access may have their origin in the use of the land over a long
period. They are often rights developed by ancestral occupation and by the use of land by
ancestral societies. In such cases, it is through the act of original clearance of the land and
settlement by ancestors that rights are claimed.

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People also use a wide range of strategies to gain access to land. These include:

 Purchase, often using capital accumulated while working as migrants in urban areas.
 Adverse possession or prescription (the acquisition of rights through possession for
a prescribed period of time). In some countries, this may be the only method for
small farmers to gain formal access to vacant or abandoned land and to bring it into
productive use.
 Leasing, or gaining access to land by paying rent to the owner.
 Sharecropping, or gaining access to land in return for paying the owner a percentage
of the production.
 Inheritance, or gaining access to land as an heir.
 Squatting illegally on land.

In addition to such individual strategies, access to land can be provided systematically

through land reform interventions by national governments, often as a result of policies to
correct historic injustices and to distribute land more equitably. Such land reforms usually
occur in situations where much of the land is owned by a relatively small number of land
owners and the land is idle or under-utilised (although it should be noted that determining
whether land is under-utilised depends on the criteria selected for the assessment). In
some countries, land restitution has been an important type of land reform. Other land
reform interventions include land redistribution programmes which aim at providing the
rural poor with access to land and promoting efficiency and investment in agriculture.
These programmes are often, but not always, accompanied by provision of subsidised
agricultural services such as extension and credit. In some cases, the state has provided
access to idle or under-utilised public land but most often private land holdings have been
the source of land for resettlement purposes.

In imposed redistributive land reforms, land is taken from large land holders by the State
and transferred to landless and land-poor farmers. Compensation has been paid to the
original owners in some reforms but not in others. In some cases, the reforms have
benefitted the tenants who worked the land. Such reforms change the structure of land
ownership by transforming tenants into owners but do not change the operational
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holdings. In other cases, the reforms have involved the resettlement of beneficiaries on the
expropriated lands and the creation of new farming operations.

Some recent land reform initiatives have been designed so that beneficiaries negotiate with
land owners to purchase land using funds provided by the State in the form of grants
and/or loans. Beneficiaries are usually required to form a group which identifies suitable
land, negotiates the purchase from the seller, formulates a project eligible for state grants
and/or credit, and determines how the land will be allocated among the members of the
group and what their corresponding payment obligations will be.

While there is broad consensus that land reform plays an important role in rural
development where land concentration is high, great controversy surrounds the choice of
mechanisms to transfer land from large land owners to the landless and land poor.
However, this debate is well beyond the scope of this guide to address.

Tenure security

Security of tenure is the certainty that a person’s rights to land will be recognized by others
and protected in cases of specific challenges. People with insecure tenure face the risk that
their rights to land will be threatened by competing claims, and even lost as a result of
eviction. Without security of tenure, households are significantly impaired in their ability to
secure sufficient food and to enjoy sustainable rural livelihoods.

Security of tenure cannot be measured directly and, to a large extent, it is what people
perceive it to be. The attributes of security of tenure may change from context to context.
For example, a person may have a right to use a parcel of land for a 6 month growing
season, and if that person is safe from eviction during the season, the tenure is secure. By
extension, tenure security can relate to the length of tenure, in the context of the time
needed to recover the cost of investment. Thus the person with use rights for 6 months will
not plant trees, or invest in irrigation works or take measures to prevent soil erosion as the
time is too short for that person to benefit from the investment. The tenure is insecure for
long-term investments even if it is secure for short-term ones.

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The importance of long-term security has led some to argue that full security can arise only
when there is full private ownership (e.g., freehold) as, under such tenure, the time for
which the rights can be held is not limited to a fixed period. It is argued that only an owner
enjoys secure rights, and holders of lesser rights, such as tenants, have insecure tenure
because they are dependent on the will of the owner. It is then implied that security of
tenure comes only with holding transfer rights such as the rights to sell and mortgage.
Equating security with transfer rights to sell and mortgage is true for some parts of the
world but it is not true in many others. People in parts of the world where there are strong
community-based tenure regimes may enjoy tenure security without wishing to sell their
land, or without having the right to do so, or having strictly limited rights to transfer (e.g.,
transfers may be limited to heirs through inheritance, or sales may be restricted to
members of the community).

3The sources of security may also vary from context to context:

 An important source is the community and its specific groups such as local farmers’
organizations and water users’ associations. When neighbours recognise and
enforce a person’s rights, that person’s security increases. In many customary
tenure arrangements, people gain property rights through membership of social
communities. Maintaining property rights validates membership in the group just as
much as membership facilitates the acquisition and safeguarding of property rights.
 Governments represent another source of security as they may provide political
recognition of some rights. For example, a government may accept the illegal
encroachment and settlement of a community on state forest lands and undertake
not to evict it. However, in doing so, a government usually recognises the right of the
community to occupy the land, but does not go as far as recognising the rights of
individual people within the community.
 Another source may be the administrative state and the formal legal system. The
state may provide security in general by affirming the rights that people hold as well
as through specific measures such as providing protection against trespass. Security
is often seen to come from protections provided through land registration and

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 cadastral systems, with adjudication of disputes taking place in the formal court
system.
 In some countries, security can also be provided by coercive structures such as
“warlords” that emerge in the absence of an effective state during periods of civil
unrest. Of course, this is not a desirable source of security as these structures may in
turn prevent the development of strong communities and legal systems necessary
for good governance.

The total security enjoyed by a person is the cumulative security provided by all sources. In
many cases, increasing security from one or more sources will result in an increase in total
security. In many development projects, providing or improving legal security is
considered the most important way of increasing security of tenure. Examples of land
tenure reforms include the upgrading of informal rights to legally enforceable rights; the
upgrading of state-issued permits to leases that provide greater protection to the land
users; the introduction of provisions for communities to become the legal owners of their
traditional land holdings instead of the rights being vested in the State; and better
definition of property rights through improvements to formal land administration systems.

A person’s security of tenure may be threatened in many ways. Ironically, attempts to

increase the legal security of some may result in others losing their rights. For example,
titling and registration projects, if poorly designed, can reduce security of many rural
residents by failing to recognise certain rights, often held by women and the poor, and
allowing them to be merged into simplistically conceived “ownership” rights. The rights to
important uses of the land, for example, to gather minor forest products or to obtain water,
may not be recognised by the legal system and may be effectively destroyed as a result. Of
course, other types of development projects can also result in the loss of rights to land.

Rights may also be reduced or eliminated if the state starts to enforce existing rules that
prevent access to resources. For example, more rigid enforcement of state policy on forest
conservation may result in villagers being evicted from land which they have been using for
agricultural and grazing purposes.

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Tenure insecurity may be caused by social changes. HIV/AIDS, for example, is impacting
the security of women in parts of Africa. Widows may lose access to land in a legal sense if
they are unable to inherit rights from their husbands, and in a practical sense if they are
forced off the farms by male relatives.

People may lose rights when others ignore land tenure rules. Exploitation of unequal
power relationships within communities, for example, may result in some members fencing
off portions of communal lands for their own exclusive use, thereby denying access by
other members of the community to shared grazing lands.

Landlessness may occur, of course, for reasons other than insecure tenure. Some may sell
their land through “distress sales” (forced sales) in order to survive in times of crises such
as famine, sickness or other calamities. Other reasons for selling land may include the need
to meet social pressures such as providing a dowry for daughters upon their marriage

Factors Causing Changes in the Usage of Agricultural

Lands
i) The establishment of forest reserves.
ii) Road and railway construction, especially connecting farm production centres.
iii) Construction of houses, hospitals, office complexes and nonagricultural structures
essential for human welfare, which commands some prices on land sale by the
farmer.
iv) Population growth and the need to increase food crop production for consumption
and export earnings for national development
AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS
Kenya has two agricultural production systems: rain-fed and irrigated agriculture.
i) Rainfed Agriculture
Kenya’s agriculture is mainly rainfed and is entirely dependent on the bimodal rainfall in
most of the country. There are two cropping seasons except in the very high-altitude areas.
The performance of rainfed agriculture varies due to the diverse agro-climatic zones.

31
In the humid, high-altitude areas productivity as well as predictability of a good crop is
high.
However, the population density in these areas has increased and land has been subdivided
into such small sizes that it is becoming uneconomical for farm enterprises.
In the medium altitude and moderate-rainfall areas, arable rainfed farming is moderately
suitable. However, there is a relatively high risk of crop failure due to increased frequency
of dry spells and an uneven rainfall distribution.

A large proportion of the country, accounting for more than 80 per cent, is semi-arid
and arid with an annual rainfall average of 400 mm. Droughts are frequent and crops
fail in one out of every three seasons. Most of the area is rangeland suitable for ranching
and pastoralism. Farm enterprises comprise mixed crops and livestock. While there is
ample land, farmers tend to grow crops that are not suitable for this rainfall regime or for
the soils. These areas require better planning, careful selection of farm enterprises and
greater investment in infrastructure.
ii) Irrigated Agriculture
Kenya is classified as one of the water-deficient countries in the world. Water resources
are unevenly distributed in space and time: about 56 per cent of all the country’s water
resources are in the Lake Victoria basin. Even in the basins, with the exception of the
highlands, water availability is scarce. Consequently, the country’s irrigation-based
farming is still limited.

Irrigation agriculture in Kenya is carried out mainly in irrigation schemes and in largescale
irrigation of crops such as rice and coffee. Individual farmers have developed their own
systems of irrigation especially for export crops such as coffee and horticulture. Large
commercial farms account for 40 per cent of irrigated land, smallholder farmers 42
percent, and Government-managed schemes 18 per cent.
With a national average rainfall of 400 mm, the country should harvest and store adequate
water for agriculture and other uses.

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Major Challenges facing Agricultural sector in Kenya
Agriculture is the major contributor of the Kenyan economy. It is the leading economic
sector, accounting for 25% of the gross domestic product (GDP). The sector also accounts
for 65 per cent of Kenya’s total exports and provides more than 18 per cent of formal
employment. Growth of the national economy is therefore highly correlated to growth and
development in agriculture.

Kenya’s agriculture is mainly rain-fed and is entirely dependent on the bimodal rainfall in
most parts of the country. A large proportion of the country, accounting for more than 80
per cent, is semi-arid and arid with an annual rainfall average of 400 mm. Droughts are
frequent and crops fail in one out of every three seasons.

Kenya’s agriculture is predominantly small-scale farming mainly in the high-potential

areas. Production is carried out on farms averaging 0.2–3 ha, mostly on a commercial basis.
This small-scale production accounts for 75 per cent of the total agricultural output and 70
per cent of marketed agricultural produce.

These facts about Kenyan agriculture sector posses a number of challenges to the sector.
The major challenges can be summarized as follows:

1. Climate change – The effects of climate change has been felt mostly by the farmers
especially due to dependence on rain-fed agriculture. The changing and unpredictable
raining seasons has greatly affected their ability to plan their farming activities. Areas
which received adequate rainfall now receive insufficient rainfall reducing the land that can
support agriculture. This brings the need for more exploitation on irrigation farming
especially in ASALs. It is estimated that intensified irrigation can increase agricultural
productivity fourfold and, depending on the crops, incomes can be multiplied 10 times.

2. Extension services– The agricultural sector extension service plays a key role in
disseminating knowledge, technologies and agricultural information, and in linking farmers
with other actors in the economy. The extension service is one of the critical change agents
required in transforming subsistence farming to a modern and commercial agriculture to

33
promote household food security, improve income and reduce poverty. However there is
limited access to extension services in most parts of the country with the National
extension staff: farmer ratio standing at 1:1,500. This situation has hindered most farmers
from keeping pace with changing technological advances. There is therefore need for
recruitment of more extension staff and the involvement of NGO’s to increase access of
extension services to farmers.

3. Use of outdated technology – Although Kenya has a well-developed agricultural

research system, use of modern science and technology in agricultural production is still
limited. Inadequate research–extension–farmer linkages to facilitate demand-driven
research and increased use of improved technologies continue to constrain efforts to
increase agricultural productivity as farmers continue to use outdated and ineffective
technologies. This brings the need of extension services that can link research and the
farmers.

4. Pest and Diseases– Pests and diseases has continued to cause a lot of losses to farmers.
This is caused by lack of information by the farmers on how to control these diseases. Post-
harvest losses is caused by poor handling and storage facilities. Maize in eastern province
have been affected by afflatoxins in the past due to lack of during and storage facilities.
Extension services can be instrumental in helping reducing pre and post harvest losses
caused by the above.

5. Use of inputs– Most farmers lack information on the right type of farm inputs to use and
the appropriate time of application of the same. The cost of key inputs such as seed,
pesticides, fertilizer, drugs and vaccines is high for resource-poor farmers. Most farmers
therefore do not use them. This greatly reduces the yield that the farmers get.

6. Soil nutrient deterioration– The rising population density has contributed to the
subdivision of land to uneconomically small units. In addition, the reduction of fallow
periods and continuous cultivation have led to rapid depletion of soil nutrients, declining
yields and environmental degradation. These farmers need information on the right

34
farming practices aimed and restoring the soil nutrient. This can be provided by extension
and advisory services.

7. Poor infrastructure– Poor rural roads and other key physical infrastructure have led to
high transportation costs for agricultural inputs and products. It also leads to spoilage of
perishable commodities during transportation. This causes high losses to farmers.

This list of challenges facing Kenyan agriculture and farmers is not exhaustive. They are
however the major challenges that can be solved if effective extension and advisory
services accorded to farmers especially small scale farmers.

The government also has a big role to play in solving some of these challenges like the poor
infrastructure, strengthening research, extension and training and
enhancing farmer access to affordable inputs and credit.

Most of the challenges are caused by lack of information and knowledge on how to avoid
them or how to solve or circumvent those that cannot be avoided. I believe that extensions
and advisory services have a big role to play in alleviation of most of these challenges as
highlighted in the above discussion.

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