To increase food production, we must go back to the roots and improve seed

What you need to know:

  • According to World Bank data released in April this year, agriculture directly contributes 26 per cent to Kenya’s GDP and 25 per cent indirectly, totalling 51 per cent, and a great deal more if we consider food grown for home consumption.
  • While it can be argued that strengthening the crop seed sector does not provide the entire solution, it is a logical and compelling starting point because the genetic potential of a crop seed variety drives everything else. 
  • Additionally, there appears to be rising levels of fake and poor quality seed reaching farmers. Unfortunately, farmers do not know the kind of seeds they have planted until many months later. 

We read a great deal about the rise of Africa and the strong growth and advancement of many countries on the continent.

Kenya is counted among these and has many strengths, including being rated the third fastest growing economy globally, with robust financial and communications sectors. 

Yet, despite many areas of progress, Kenya is becoming increasingly and alarmingly food insecure and without committed action, it is likely that the challenge could worsen.

With a population growth rate of over 2 per cent, 42 per cent of the population under 14 years, and 60 per cent that is 24 years and below, there is cause for alarm.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, yields for our most staple food crops are constant at best and in most cases decreasing. 

On those occasions when we have increased our production, it has generally occurred because we have increased the land under cultivation, not because we have increased crop yields per acre. This dynamic is the very opposite of most of sub-Saharan Africa’s economies, which have successfully increased crop yields.

Kenya’s maize, wheat, and rice imports have skyrocketed since the late 1980s and show no signs of abating. This situation exposes the country to the mercy of escalating world food prices and the depletion of our foreign exchange reserves. 

And yet, according to World Bank data released in April this year, agriculture directly contributes 26 per cent to Kenya’s GDP and 25 per cent indirectly, totalling 51 per cent, and a great deal more if we consider food grown for home consumption.

According to this data, 61 per cent of Kenya’s work force derives employment from agriculture. Agriculture, therefore, defines Kenya. How is it then possible that we are unable to adequately feed ourselves?

Kenya is blessed with good agricultural land, sufficient rainfall in many parts of the country, irrigation potential, skilled researchers, and hard-working farmers. Why then are we where we are?

Many countries faced with similar challenges have started with reform in their crop seed sectors. While it can be argued that strengthening the crop seed sector does not provide the entire solution, it is a logical and compelling starting point because the genetic potential of a crop seed variety drives everything else. 

Fertiliser, herbicides, insecticides, water, farmer management practices, and post-harvest storage all protect the seed genetic potential of the crop. It all starts with the seed. If the seed is not optimal, it will matter little how rich the soil is, or how much rain falls, or how mechanised the farming is. 

Kenya’s crop seed sector is experiencing serious challenges. It is overwhelmingly focused on maize seed, which means that there is low supply of seed for other crops. The public sector dominates the industry, from the large crops such as maize to the smaller ones such as millet, pigeon pea, common beans, and cassava.

Additionally, there appears to be rising levels of fake and poor quality seed reaching farmers. Unfortunately, farmers do not know the kind of seeds they have planted until many months later. 

And the stakes are ever rising. For example, we are experiencing a threat from maize lethal necrosis disease. A key recommendation is to break the maize cycle on the farm and plant rotation crops. Where will this seed come from, given our low levels of available seed for other crops? We need courage, resolve, and determination to do the right thing to address food insecurity.

Many other countries have done it.  

First, we must involve the private sector in the growth and innovation of our crop seed industry. Second, we must make the crop seed industry a profitable investment for the private sector rather than ask participants to compete with the government. Third, we must evaluate alternatives to the current legislative and regulatory models governing the sector, particularly for vegetatively propagated crops such as potatoes and cassava.

The political will to address food security is vital. With 42 per cent of our population not yet 15 years old, we have no choice but to start working to ensure that these young people have enough food.  r Wanyagah is the CEO of Kenya Markets Trust and a former media executive. [email protected].