Browsing: farming in Kenya

• Kenyan youth are frequently asked to consider farming as a way of making a living
• Some agree while others rubbish the trade saying it is difficult
• Challenges facing farmers in Kenya include the high cost of farming inputs, cartels along the production chain and lack of sufficient land for farming commercially

Kenyan youth have been urged time and time again to turn to farming to make a living, amid high levels of unemployment. They are also frequently asked to use farming as a means of increasing the amount of food produced in the economy to aid food security.

For instance, youths in Elgeyo Marakwet were recently urged to engage in crop farming for economic purposes. Crop farming would also reduce their over reliance on livestock farming, which has contributed to banditry in the region.

A finding by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) explains that agriculture contributes 33% to the …

• Livestock farmers in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) will receive training and financing from KCB Foundation
• The partnership will train and equip farmers from ASALs with climate-smart agricultural practices to mitigate the dire impacts of climate change
• The two-year partnership will mobilise KSh 100 million in financing for the farmers through strategic partners to grow the funding to KSh 500 million
• Kenya is currently facing a drought that has left more than 2.5 million people on the brink of starvation and poverty. Pastoralists and farmers now have less and less time to recover

Livestock farmers in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) will receive training and financing from KCB Foundation following a partnership with the United States Agency for International Development’s Kenya Investment Mechanism.

The partnership will train and equip farmers from ASALs with climate-smart agricultural practices to mitigate the dire impacts of climate change. The two-year partnership will …

In the months surrounding the birth of our own republic, from 1961 to 1963, a crucial, international organisation was also being born, to assure food safety across the globe. 

As a partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and the World Health Organisation, the Codex Alimentarius Commission produces the Codex Alimentarius, which is Latin for the ‘Book of Food’. It contains internationally recognised guidelines, standards, codes of practice and recommendations on food safety, with just two goals: to ensure the health of consumers and fair trade in food. 

Yet, today, both are under threat. 

Over the 60 years since the Codex was launched, the commission has been led by the world’s top scientists, drawing on every global study to set food safety standards that include assessing pesticides for their impact on human health. To do that, Codex sets Maximum…

Since covid-19 was first reportd in Kenya in March last year, a series of challenges have affected several sectors. Agriculture sector has not been spared either.

In Kenya agriculture is the engine of economic growth in Kenya. According to data from Food and Agriculture organization (FAO), about 75 per cent of Kenyans earn all or part of their income from this sector.

Agriculture accounts for 33 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).  Despite continuous population growth, agricultural productivity has stagnated in recent years.  Only 20 per cent of Kenyan land is suitable for farming and that land is not utilized efficiently.

To this end, the United States International University-Africa (USIU-A), through support provided by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research through their Cultivate Africa’s Future initiative, has been providing young agripreneurs, aged 18-35 years, with access to business training, finance …