Shortage of extension services hurts food production

What you need to know:

Extension officers have been at the heart of the agricultural economy for the last 30 years, acting as change agents and a conduit of information between farmers and the government.
Through extension officers, small scale farmers have been informed of new commercial crops, seed varieties, what fertiliser to us and when to use it, and the best crop management practises to apply for maximum yield.
The system, also known in farm services delivery as the training and visit method, was introduced in Kenya in 1982 as a World Bank project that was meant to support institutional development and sustained growth in agricultural productivity.
Through the model, farmers were to organise themselves into groups to enable them to market their goods, access credit, and form industrial partnerships. Extension officers were to seek out such groups and help them to develop their farming businesses.
Over the last few years, however, extension officers have faded away and many small scale farmers who form the bulk of the agriculture sector have been the greatest losers.

Lack of adequate extension services is discouraging farmers and hampering growth of the agriculture sector.

Extension officers have been at the heart of the agricultural economy for the last 30 years, acting as change agents and a conduit of information between farmers and the government.

Through extension officers, small scale farmers have been informed of new commercial crops, seed varieties, what fertiliser to us and when to use it, and the best crop management practises to apply for maximum yield.

The system, also known in farm services delivery as the training and visit method, was introduced in Kenya in 1982 as a World Bank project that was meant to support institutional development and sustained growth in agricultural productivity.

Through the model, farmers were to organise themselves into groups to enable them to market their goods, access credit, and form industrial partnerships.

Extension officers were to seek out such groups and help them to develop their farming businesses.

This was particularly crucial in rural areas where access to information is significantly lower that in urban areas, and small scale farmers rely largely on interpersonal exchanges to get farming knowledge.

Over the last few years, however, extension officers have faded away and many small scale farmers who form the bulk of the agriculture sector have been the greatest losers.

Joyce Nyagwach, a Kisii-based extension officer, says that the officers are not a dying breed adding that it’s their methods that have changed.

“In the past we used to visit farms regularly and advice each on an individual basis. This method was very successful,’ she explains. “Today, the teaching and visit method is no longer practised and farmers have to go out on their way, visit agriculture offices, and seek out services of extension officers.

‘‘The services are still there, but only those who really need them and are serious about farming can get access to them.” This approach places farmers in remote areas at a disadvantage because of the challenge of raising money to travel to distant towns for the service.

Ms Nyagwach says that the reasons for stopping the training and visit method remain unclear, adding that some farmers are their own enemy.

She recounts a case where she once visited a farmer who was not getting the most out of his four-acre piece of land and wanted help to increase his yield.

“The farmer used to get four to five bags of maize each year from the land. After working together and giving him the necessary training and farm inputs, we were able to get 28 bags. I told him that he could harvest even more,” she says. After a few seasons Ms Nyagwacha revisited the farmer and to her horror discovered that he had reverted to his old farming practice.

He was harvesting a fraction of the farm’s potential yield. Albert Sumba is a product promotion officer at the Kenya Seed Company. He agrees that lack of information is the greatest setback, even more than finance, for farmers.

“Kenya Seed has released a lot of seed varieties into the market and we are even holding on to some because those that are in the market need to be used. But farmers take very long to adopt a new variety and some are still using maize seeds developed 20 years ago,” he says.

A dozen varieties

“Majority of maize farmers, those who are between 30 and 50, used to be sent to buy the 614 seed variety by their parents. They grew up believing that this is the best variety and convincing them otherwise is difficult.”

Mr Sumba says that this is despite the fact that more than a dozen varieties have been released in the last 20 years, which are more superior.

However, many farmers do not fully understand and appreciate the new varieties.

This is detrimental to the growth of the agriculture sector and the economy in general.

In addition, lack of proper instructions on appropriate farming practises makes farmers vulnerable to emerging crop pests and diseases that could have a catastrophic effect.

The Ministry of Agriculture and private researchers are currently trying to control effects of the maize lethal necrosis disease that started in the Rift Valley and has spread to 26 counties.

The disease threatens food security in the country.