Main players in agriculture

The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute's (KARI) Naivasha Center on May 29, 2012. Photo/FILE

What you need to know:

  • The Ministry of Agriculture was established in 1903.
  • KCC was incorporated a limited liability company in 1925.
  • Agricultural research in Kenya was the preserve of a few rich settlers.

The Ministry of Agriculture (1903)

The Ministry of Agriculture is one of the oldest government units in Kenya.

It was established in 1903 as the Department of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Animal Resources.


The number of European settler farmers had just reached 100 and the colonial administration needed a way of boosting the sector to make the Uganda Railway worthwhile.


In its 110-year history, the Ministry of Agriculture has undergone a series of mergers and splits with the ministries of Cooperatives, Environment, Water, Fisheries, and Livestock Development being borne out of it.


It is now known as Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries and is headed by Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei.

Kenya Bureau of Standards (1974)


KEBS is the government agency responsible for maintaining standards in Agriculture.


Since its inception in 1974, the agency has played a primarily role in ensuring the integrity and high standards of farm inputs and produce.

National Cereals and Produce Board (1939)


The NCPB is one of the flagship corporations under the Ministry of Agriculture. Its main work is to intervene and stabilise the vital grain market in Kenya.

It also buys and maintains grain on behalf of the Strategic Grain Reserves (GSRs) function of the MoA. The NCPB runs 110 grain silos and depots countrywide with a total capacity of 1.84 MT.


It was established in 1939 as the Maize and Produce Board (MPB). Three years after independence, MPB was merged with other regional marketing boards.

After the collapse of the EAC, the NCPB was created from a merger of the original Maize and Produce Board and the Wheat Board of Kenya. The NCPB Act, Cap 338 was enacted in 1985.

Kenya Sisal Board (1946)


The KSB was formed as a statutory government agency in 1946 with the main purpose of promoting the welfare of the sisal industry in Kenya.

Kenya Sugar Board (2001)


The Kenya Sugar Board was established in 2001 to replace the defunct Kenya Sugar Authority. Its main work is to regulate and promote the Sugar Industry.

Cotton Development Authority (2006)


Established in 2006, CODA is tasked with monitoring, regulating the cotton industry in Kenya.


Cotton was introduced in Nyanza in 1901 as a suitable cash crop for hardy areas where other cash crops could not thrive.

The Cotton Act was passed five decades later. It was amended in 1989 to provide for the establishment of the Cotton Board of Kenya (CoBK) to replace the Cotton Lint and Seed Marketing Board (CL & SMB).

The CL & SMB had collapsed under heavy debts in the 1980s. The Cotton Board of Kenya was then renamed the Cotton Development Authority (Coda).

Pyrethrum Board of Kenya (1928)


Pyrethrum has been grown in Kenya since 1928. The Pyrethrum Board of Kenya was established in 1934 to oversee the production and processing of pyrethrum in the country.

Coconut Development Authority (2007)


Coconuts have thrived at the Kenyan coast for centuries. The Kenya Coconut Development Authority, however, was only established in August 2007 to provide advisory services on matters related to coconut industry.

Kenya Dairy Board (1958)


The Kenya Dairy Board was established in 1958 to promote and regulate the dairy industry.

The Kenya Cooperative Creameries (1925)


KCC was incorporated a limited liability company in 1925 although it had already been in operation for several years. It was then known as Kenya Cooperative Creamery Limited.

The first creamery was opened in 1926 at Naivasha. In 1931, it merged with Kipkelion Creameries and changed its name in 1945 to Kenya Cooperative Creameries.

It was placed under receivership in 1999 by debenture holders Kenya Commercial Bank. The New Kenya Cooperative Creameries is the body that replaced the KCC in 2003.

Kenya Meat Commission (1950)


The KMC was formed in 1950 to provide a ready market to livestock farmers. Like many government corporations of its time, it eventually collapsed under heavy debt.

It was re-opened in June 2006 after 15 years of closure. Research bodies have not been left behind


RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS
Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (1979)


Kari is the largest agricultural research body in Kenya.

Agricultural research in Kenya was the preserve of a few rich settlers such as Lord Delamere and the Ministry of Agriculture until the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) was formed in 1979.

Anchored in Cap 250 of the Kenya Constitution, KARI was mandated to carry out research in agriculture and liaise with the educational system to disseminate research findings.

Coffee Research Foundation (1908)


The earliest milestone in coffee research in Kenya dates back to 1908 when the Department of Agriculture appointed an entomologist.

Coffee research was undertaken at the Scotts Laboratories, which later became the National Agricultural Laboratories.


In 1944, the colonial government established the Coffee Research Foundation (CRF) in Jacaranda Estate near Ruiru.


At independence, the CRF was handed over to the direct control of coffee farmers. It was incorporated as a private company the next year and is funded through a levy on coffee sales.

The CRF now has substations in Koru, Kitale, Kisii, and Mariene in Meru; It has produced several high quality Arabica coffee varieties and is the body responsible for disease resistant hybrid variety Ruiru II.


The Kenya Coffee College at the CRF provides training on all aspects of coffee.

Tea Research Foundation of Kenya (1980)


Although tea was first introduced in Kenya in 1904, the tea grower associations emerged decades later.

The current Tea Research Foundation of Kenya (TRFK) was founded in 1980 to replace the defunct Tea Research Institute of East Africa.


On its website, TRFK outlines its objectives as promoting research on tea and other systems of husbandry related to tea. It has since developed many tea clones that have enhanced tea productivity in Kenya.

Kenya Sugar Research Foundation (2001)


Kesref is a private body formed in 2001. It is fully funded by the sugar industry. Before its establishment, sugar research fell under the National Agricultural Laboratories in Kabete.

Sugar research itself dates back to the 1950s although large-scale production of sugar started in 1922 with the establishment of Miwani Sugar Company.


The National Sugar Research Station, set up in 1969, fell under the Ministry of Agriculture.

Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (1979)


Like Kari, Kemfri was established by the Science and Technology Act, Cap 250 of the Laws of Kenya in 1979.

It is a state corporation under Ministry of Agriculture mandated to conduct aquatic research on all Kenyan territorial waters and corresponding riparian areas.


TRAINING INSTITUTIONS
The Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Nairobi (1970)


The University of Nairobi’s Faculty of Agriculture was started in 1970 with five departments: Plant Science, Agricultural Economics, Crop Production, Soil Science, and Etymology.

It accepted 41 students in the first BSc Agriculture class. The faculty’s first dean was Prof T.R Odhiambo.

Egerton University (1939)


Egerton University is named after Lord Maurice Egerton of Tatton who provided the land on which the institution stands.

Lord Egerton also established the University’s predecessor, a small farm school with only one candidate at its inception in 1939. The original purpose of the farm school was to train young Europeans for a career in Agriculture.


In 1955, the school was renamed Egerton Agricultural College (EAC). The EAC offered a one-year certificate course and a two-year diploma course in agriculture.

The current Faculty of Agriculture came into being in August 1986 when Egerton College was elevated to the status of a university College.

The university college was granted a university charter the next year with the faculty of Agriculture is its flagship faculty.

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (1981)


The Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture (JKUAT) is located in Juja, about 36 kilometers from Nairobi city. It was started in 1981 as the Jomo Kenyatta College of Agriculture and Technology (JKCAT).


The plans for the institution had been mooted four years prior and in early 1978, President Kenyatta donated 200 acres for the establishment of a middle-level college. JKCAT was made a constituent college of KU in 1988 and a University in 1994.


ASSOCIATIONS AND SOCIETIES
Kenya Farmers Association (KFA)


KFA was formed in the early 1900s to give the settler farming community a common voice. Its mandate include procuring farm inputs for the farmers on credit, and finding new markets for surplus produce.

It was initially bogged down by lack of assets with which to leverage lines of credit. In the 1920s, Lord Delamere forfeited his 40 percent holdings in Unga Limited to the KFA.

Agricultural Society of Kenya (1901)


The Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) annual shows have been the premier agricultural events for more than a century.

The ASK was formed in 1901 as the East African Agricultural and Horticultural Society (EAA & HS) by John Ainsworth, the sub-commissioner of the then Ukambani province.


The first show was held on February 26, 1902 at the Jevanjee Garden in Nairobi. In 1903, Prince Park in Mombasa hosted the first show at the Coast.

The name of the society was changed to Royal Agricultural Society of Kenya (Rask) in 1949, but the ‘royal’ part was again dropped at independence.