Kenya – Kenya Maize Development Program (KMDP)

Boosting Household Incomes, Raising Productivity

Each year, the average Kenyan consumes 98 kilograms of maize, the staple of the Kenyan diet. At the same time, maize prices in Kenya are among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, and the poorest quarter of the population spends 28 percent of its income on the crop. Inefficient production and marketing in the maize subsector contribute to economic stagnation and poverty in Kenya. Increased productivity and efficient markets, in conjunction with rational government policies, can dramatically alter the economic contribution of the subsector. With proper reforms in place, the maize industry will become a key element in accelerating growth and reducing poverty.

ACDI/VOCA’s USAID-funded, $7.7 million Kenya Maize Development Program (KMDP) boosts household incomes by raising productivity, improving effectiveness of smallholder organizations and increasing access to agricultural markets and business support services. Led by ACDI/VOCA, the program involves a diverse consortium of partners within the maize value chain, including the Cereal Growers Association of Kenya, Farm Input Promotions Africa Ltd. (FIPS) and the Kenya Agricultural Commodity Exchange.

KMDP incorporates a business development services paradigm that emphasizes nonfinancial services in the maize value chain. This allows commercial providers to deliver services to smaller enterprises, ensuring their sustainability and increasing the capacity of business providers. Through this project, ACDI/VOCA is helping to stimulate an increased demand for business services by providing linkages and awareness of the services and products available, while addressing constraints on the delivery of these services. For example, KMDP facilitated the first-ever private-sector-focused maize industry business fair in September 2003 to bring together over 3,000 farmers and 200 business service providers to create effective business linkages. Since then, KMDP has held additional business fairs with as many as 60 exhibitors and 15,000 people participating each year to connect smallholder producers directly to market service providers, thereby reducing the number of middlemen in the value chain.

A major problem for smallholder farmers is lack of access to timely and accurate market information. To address this problem, KMDP has established a network of market information centers that serve as locations for prices and trade information within local and regional markets. Through these centers, buyers are able to post purchase bids while farmers can review offers and sell their stocks to willing buyers. KMDP also strives to provide farmers and agribusinesses with access to new and improved technologies. Kenyan farmers have been able to take advantage of the widespread use of mobile phones to acquire quick and accurate information through the short messaging system (SMS). This system allows users to receive as text messages the prevailing market prices for various products within several markets. The system also enables farmers to receive weather alerts and regular extension messages on production practices. By using SMS, farmers can avoid exploitation by middlemen who have historically taken advantage of uninformed farmers.

ACDI/VOCA also provides practical on-farm training in the use of improved varieties of seed and fertilizer, conservation tillage, and other natural resource management practices, through a collaboration with FIPS, the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture and other stakeholders. Over 300,000 farmers have visited project demonstration plots that feature better agronomic practices in western Kenya and the Rift Valley region. Farmers view these new practices as they are being implemented so they can assess their success firsthand and gain confidence about trying these methods on their own farms.

The formation and development of farmers’ associations is another focus of KMDP. In 2003, the project supported 18 associations, which grew in 2007 to 80 associations with a total membership of approximately 250,000 farmers. KMDP directly trains an average of 12,000 farmers each quarter in business practices primarily through ACDI/VOCA training in business skills for association leaders and their members, including the Farming as a Business module, which teaches producers to adopt a commercial approach to their farming activities. A “Farming as a Family Business” module is currently in development that will assist smallholder families in adopting these commercial approaches so that they may improve their standard of living. In addition KMDP has, in collaboration with the private sector, research community, universities and government organizations, published the Kenya Maize Handbook, a summary of the maize production process and industry trends. It has become a reference guide to farmers and their promoters in providing up-to-date information on different levels of the value chain. ACDI/VOCA also uses this forum to address critical cross-cutting issues such as natural resource management, gender equity and HIV/AIDS.

For more information, contact Cathy Phiri at cphiri@acdivoca.org.

Updated: 5/08

PDF version of profile (1.17 MB)