Kenya’s Road to Recovery

Maize is the principle staple food crop for 96 percent of Kenya’s population with an estimated per capita consumption of 98 kg of maize per year. Approximately one out of every two acres cultivated is put to maize production, making it not only the major staple food crop but also a direct and indirect source of income for much of Kenya’s population. Laurenco Njoroge lives in the Ngorika region of Nyandarua district in central Kenya with his wife and baby son. He is from a large family of over 35 people, and has 8 siblings. Njoroge is fortunate to have received a good education and earned a bachelor’s degree from Kenyatta University in Nairobi. To support his family he runs a small shop providing inputs and services to farmers, earning $140 per month. When he is not working at his shop, Njoroge is helping farmers by providing training through ACDI/VOCA’s USAID-funded Kenya Maize Development Program (KMDP).

The Ngorika region faces many challenges, particularly in the wake of last year’s post-election violence. As a result of the violence, more than 15,000 farmers from the affected districts in the Rift Valley have come to settle in the town of Nyahururu, where they feel relatively safe. As internally displaced persons (IDPs), the farmers are struggling with many issues. Many of the young IDPs are idle and have no source of income, which has led to an increase in crime in the region. Still, the farmers are working to be productive and build a life for themselves. They have pooled their resources and bought 50 acres of land for farming. Njoroge has become renowned in this community for training the farmers in “power of attitude change,” Farming as a Family Business (FaaFB), post-harvest handling and grain care, marketing and market linkages, and mobilization and distribution of resources. Njoroge also provides training in counseling for victims of violence, peace building and organizing mobile clinics. Because of his management acumen and leadership qualities, he now supervises other KMDP promoters in Central Rift and Central Kenya.

Promoters work with the KMDP staff to integrate youth into farm enterprise building by creating employment opportunities and targeting the older generation to transfer some of the decision making and profit sharing to the youth, who make up a growing percentage of farm labor. During the 6 years of its implementation, KMDP has achieved nearly tripled smallholder yields from a baseline output per unit of 8 bags an acre (each bag weighs 90 kg) to an average yield of 32 bags an acre. This has resulted in increased net earnings of $206 million for 370,000 mostly smallholder farmers. Of these farmers, nearly 100,000 have completed the project-designed training course in FaaFB, which provides new and practical information on how to use seed and fertilizer, and trains farmers to better market their crops through organized markets systems.

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