KAPAP: Focusing on the smallholder farmer When Baobab arrives at the office of Dr. Samuel Muigai, the National Coordinator of the Kenya Agricultural Productivity and Agribusiness Programme (KAPAP), he is on phone talking about the well being of the ordinary farmer. Throughout his phone conversation, Dr. Muigai is emphatic about a theme that keeps recurring: the state of the smallholder farmer.
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hen he hangs up, he almost immediately makes it clear that his one overriding intent as the National Coordinator of KAPAP is the small holder farmer. “My interest is the Otieno, the Wambui and the Kiplagat—the ordinary farmer,” he stresses, adding that conversation about abstract policies and theories does not interest him. Only matters that impact directly on the life of the everyday farmer will stir his attention. Without doubt, assisting farmers to adopt technologies that would enable them to enhance their productivity and earn higher incomes is the job that Dr. Muigai oversees from his simple, seventh-floor office at Capitol Hill Towers in Nairobi. Enhancing productivity by farmers entails linking them to credit sources and to markets, and adding value to the produce so as to increase their worth in terms of cash and shelf life. It was this same concern for the welfare of farmers that, in 2004, led to the birth of the Kenya Agricultural Productivity Programme (KAPP), which is a 12-year programme jointly supported by the Government of Kenya and the World Bank. The Programme is implemented in phases and KAPAP, which is currently under implementation (2010-2015), is the second phase of the programme. KAPAP is implemented in 20 counties across Kenya under the framework of the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy (ASDS). It aims at consolidating and up-scaling the achievements of KAPP Phase I (2004-2008), which was a pilot phase. The pilot phase resulted in the formulation and review of a number of sector policies, including the National
Agricultural Sector Extension Policy (NASEP) and its implementation framework, a National Livestock and Dairy Policy, a draft National Agricultural Research System (NARS) policy. Agricultural research also received support, resulting in the release of new technologies. Some of the enterprises receiving KAPAP support include aquaculture research, meat, cereals, dairy, and fruit & vegetables value chains in the project’s operational areas. The project is also supporting agribusiness development as well as the establishment of off-grid energy so as to promote agro-processing in rural areas to spur economic growth. The objective of KAPAP is to increase agricultural productivity and incomes of smallholder farmers from agricultural and agribusiness activities. This is to be achieved, largely by supporting improvement of agricultural research and extension systems and their linkages to sector priorities through effective partnerships and collaboration. The activities include implementation of ASDS; putting the National Agricultural Sector Extension Policy (NASEP) and the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) policy into operation; as well as improved planning, funding and coordination of public agricultural programmes. Through its focus on policy; research; value addition; and empowerment of agricultural extension officers, farmers and other stakeholders, KAPAP is indeed adding to the overall national food security, while making a difference in the lives of smallholder farmers.
Baobab | March 2013 | 25