17 June 2008
editorial
Nairobi — This week, African Agriculture ministers are meeting in Nairobi at a time when food production in the continent is on the decline and prices on an unprecedented rise.
Welcoming the delegates to Nairobi, Agriculture minister William Ruto said the country is concerned about the growing food and nutritional insecurity brought about by the slow growth in the sector.
Shaken by the possibility of a major food crisis in the country, the Government has in the last few weeks moved to cushion farmers against the high cost of farm inputs.
These have included subsidised fertilisers and planting materials, as well as low-interest bank loans.
But small-scale farmers are yet to stampede into banks for loans, while reports that some are selling donated fertilisers and seeds is a pointer that the high cost of inputs is not wholly responsible for the decline in agricultural production.
Other factors must be sought and acted upon, including over-dependence on rain-fed agriculture.
Last year, farmers in Nyeri discovered that vanilla, a high-value crop, was not suited to the area --- after experimenting with it for almost three years.
This waste could have been avoided if the farmers had got the right information at the right time. This is the folly of trying to build a modern agriculture sector using outdated extension and information systems.
Most extension training modules are still on maize, tea or coffee, while farmers are thinking strawberries, mushroom, clonal bananas or egg plants.
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