KLPA Welcomes Nominated CS for Agriculture Dr. Andrew Mwihia Karanja

The Kenya Livestock Producers Association welcomes the nomination of Dr. Andrew
Mwihia Karanja for the position of Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.

KLPA have noted that, Dr. Karanja started his career at the junior rank of an extension officer in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development and rose to the position of planning officer in the same ministry.

Public service has its nuances and some Cabinet Secretaries have in the past found it
hard to discharge their mandate due to lack of knowledge on how the public service
operates. Dr. Karanja having worked his way up the ranks of the public service will be well equipped to seamlessly navigate around the bureaucracy and harness the expertise within the ministry.We have also noted that Dr. Karanja has consulted widely for development partners such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, USAID and the European Union (EU).

Such development partners play a big role in supporting the growth of Agriculture and
Livestock valuechains in the Country. We hope that he will tap in to the networks he has created over the years working for such partners for the benefit of our nation.
Dr. Karanja’s nomination comes at a critical point in the history of our Nation. Our country is home to millions of restless youths who are hungry and yearning for opportunities to better their lives and advance their nation. However, those opportunities have been fewand far between. These youths are the rock on which the future of this nation will be built upon. On the other hand if left without opportunities, they will be the flame that burns this nation in to ruins.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has the greatest potential, of all the Ministries, to create opportunities for the youth of this Nation. Agriculture has been recognized as one of the five pillars of the Bottom up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA). Agriculture is the foundation of civilization and any stable economy. If we get it right in Agriculture, everything else will follow suit. The sector has the potential to create over a million job opportunities across the various valuechains from farm to fork. Kenya spends over 3 billion US dollar every year on food imports, majorly on products that we can produce locally. We are exporting jobs to other countries through importation of food produce that we can produce here. We have to change that trend.
In order to realize the potential that the Agriculture and Livestock Sector has, we urge Dr. Karanja to address the following five areas that affect the productivity of our farmers;

1. Access to quality affordable farm inputs,
Smallholder farmers face a big challenge of accessing quality farm inputs at a price
they can afford. The agricultural sector is awash with quacks who have filled in this
gap and are selling sub-standard input to farmers. This is not only a threat to the
Country’s food security but also severely affects the income of our farmers. The
substandard inputs especially pesticides and veterinary medicines also lead to
Anti-Microbial resistance which is a silent pandemic that is becoming a leading
cause of death. While we applaud the Government for the subsidized fertilizer program, we urge the Government to ensure timely delivery of the same so that the farmers receivethe fertilizer before the start of the planting season. The Government must also be vigilant and weed out cartels that hinder the success of the program.
Even as the Government addressed the issue of access of quality inputs, we must
also address access to land for the youth which is a major hindrance in having more young people take up farming.

2. Provision of quality advisory services
For us to increase on-farm productivity and profitability, access to quality advisory
services must be enhanced urgently. County Governments need to set aside
enough funds to recruit extension officers, agronomists, veterinary doctors, and
para- veterinary professionals.
These professionals will play a critical role in helping the farmers improve farm
management practices through better agronomic practices, entrepreneurship
development (farm management, record keeping, farm planning) and sharing
information related to access to finance, access to inputs and access to markets.
Research and development institutions must also be strengthened and be well
resourced so as to continue developing cutting edge innovations and helping the
country adopt to emerging trends and challenges.

3. Access to affordable credit for farmers
Inadequate access to affordable and formal lines of credit by smallholder farmers
is a teething problem that our farmers face today. Farmers in Kenya are left out of
the financial products designed by banks, lending societies (SACCOS) or microfinance institutions because they are deemed to be risky borrowers. When farmers are unable to access affordable credit, they are unable to meet the cost of production and cannot ensure that they country is food secure. Consumers are therefore faced with food shortages, leading to food importation and increase in food prices.
The need for farmer-centred financial products must now move from just a
discussion into an actionable plan.

4. Climate change
Our farmers have borne the brunt of climate change in the past few years. If not
enduring drought and famine, they are battling floods. The threat of climate change
is real and here with us. More resources need to be set aside for Climate–Smart
agriculture initiatives. This cannot be left to development partners alone.

5. Establishing market linkages for farmers
This probably the biggest challenge facing our farmers today. Farmers after toiling
in their farms have been left at the hands of merciless middlemen who exploit them.
The Government must invest in developing the infrastructure that assures farmers
of access to domestic and export markets for all the value chains.

This should go hand in hand in addressing post-harvest losses. Establishment of
cold storages across the counties need to be undertaken. The capacity building of
farmers to do value-addition to their produce in order to fetch better prices needs
to be undertaken across all value chains.
If Dr. Karanja can address these five issues, he will have played a key role in supporting
BETA, ensuring that Kenya is food secure but also catalyzing job creation for the youths of our great nation. If he can tackle those five issues, he will cement his legacy in the hearts and minds of the Kenyan farmers.
We have no doubt that he possess the knowledge and expertise to turn around the
fortunes of farmers in this country. As he prepares to face the members of the NationalAssembly, we wish him all the best and assure him of our unequivocal support should he be successfully vetted and approved by the National Assembly.

 

The Kenya Livestock Producers Association (KLPA) was formed in 2004 as an apex
association for all livestock producers in Kenya. It draws its membership from individual farmers, farmer groups, cooperative societies, Self Help Groups, Community Based Organizations and corporate organizations in livestock agribusiness. The current membership stands at more than 1,500,000 farmers spread all over Kenya.
KLPA has participated in lobbying and advocacy on livestock policies and represented the interests of livestock farmers by being a member of Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), Agricultural Industrial Network (AIN), Agriculture Council of Kenya (AgCK) and Kenya Agribusiness & Agro- industry Alliance (KAAA).