KENFAP is an umbrella farmers federation comprising of over 1.4 million family farmers drawn from 50 Area Branches, 23 Commodity Association and 9 cooperatives spread all over Kenya. The membership is dominated by smallholder farmers who often have limited access to affordable or appropriately packaged inputs, lack access to appropriate commodity storage facilities and are therefore compelled to sell primary commodities which are highly perishable. Other constraints faced by the farmers include poor market infrastructure, which often imply that the environment in which they operate is considered far too risky by financial intermediaries and other private providers of credit and other business services. They are also vulnerable to risks and uncertainty associated with the climate as well as to high levels of price volatility.
The ESFIM research is to complement and fill the gaps within KENFAP strategic Plan 2008-2012 framework. The plan guides all KENFAP activities and collaboration with different development partners. ESFIM programme was entrenched into KENFAP 2-year planner 2009/2010 under strategic aim 2 with the objective to enhance farmers’ participation in the National Research dialogue and identify the capacity needs of KENFAP to generate demand driven action research.
ESFIM Progress Report 2011
The ‘Support to advocacy agenda through collaborative research’ component of the ESFIM programme assists NFOs in developing countries with formulating feasible, evidence-based propositions for changes in key elements in the institutional environment that will enable effective market access for small-holders. In the annual report (ESFIM Progress report January-December 2011-En), an update of the progress of AGRINATURA research support is presented for the year 2011.
ESFIM-Kenya Policy Issues
KENFAP decided to focus on only one priority policy research issue involving a critical assessment of government interventions in input and output markets: a case of Maize seed, Fertilizer and Maize grain. The aim of the study was to determine the impact and sustainability of the interventions involving delivery of subsidised fertiliser and certified seeds to smallholder farmers and outline relevant policy recommendations. Due to the funding constraints, the involvement of local researchers in the study was substantially scaled down and KENFAP staff undertook most of the activities, including carrying out desk review of existing literature, developing research instruments as well as collecting and analysing data. NRI provided advisory and editorial inputs to KENFAP. read more »
ESFIM-Kenya Documents
KENFAP PRESENT MEMORANDUM ON FOOD SECURITY
Kenya’s food security status has continued to worsen from 24.3% in 1990 to 42% in 2001.By February 2011 an estimated 2.4 million persons, up from 1.6 million in August 2010, required food and non-food (Kenya Food Security Steering Group, February 2011). Kenya’s food policy since independence has been centered on improving domestic supply of basic foodstuffs, mainly grain crops. This goal of food self-sufficiency was largely attained in the early years of independence until the late seventies after which massive food shortages set in. Since then, the goal of food self-sufficiency and food security has not been attained despite significant policy pronouncements to reform the sector. Generally Kenya has been a low-income food deficit country a regular importer and occasional exporter of grain yet has the potential to be a regional grain basket if agricultural potential is well managed. The causes of food insecurity and the reasons the worsening food situation are many and varied, they include low agricultural productivity due to prolonged drought, inadequate access to productive assets (land and capital), inadequate access to appropriate technologies by farmers, effects of global trade and slow reform process. However, in the recent past other factors have come into play such as exporting maize into the neighboring countries disregarding the strategic reserve balances, misleading data to the general public and allowing the millers to distate the markets of the staple grains. read more »
