F.K. Kamau
Ministry of Agriculture, Nairobi, Kenya
The paper summarises the research efforts in crop–livestock systems in Kenya, identifies their deficiencies in terms of disciplinary, commodity and component orientation and emphasises the need for a more holistic, integrated approach.
The agriculture sector in Kenya plays a vital role in the economic development, contributing about 27% of the gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, the sector is estimated to have a further indirect contribution of 30% through linkages with manufacturing and other service related sectors. The sector also accounts for about 80% of the national employment mainly in the rural areas. In years of good weather, the sector produces nearly all the country's food requirements except wheat, sugar, rice and edible oils.
The livestock sub-sector which is an integral part of the agricultural sector, contributes about 10% of the GDP and accounts for over 30% of the agricultural GDP. The sub-sector employs over 50% of the agricultural labour force and is responsible for ensuring self-sufficiency in livestock products. This has been achieved except in extreme drought years.
There is an increasing demand for the agriculture sector to produce more food to feed the rapidly growing human population, produce adequate raw materials for the agro-industries, and export to earn foreign exchange. This has led to intensification of crop and livestock production particularly in the high potential areas where land scarcity is a major problem due to the high human population pressure. The intensification has been through use of high yielding crop varieties and improved livestock breeds, fertilisers, various agro-chemicals for both crop and livestock enterprises, and intensive livestock rearing systems among others. These efforts have resulted in positive impacts including increased yields, employment, food security and income.
However, some negative effects have arisen due to lack of proper input management, particularly the usage of agro-chemicals, thereby resulting in environmental and human health problems. Some of these include soil and water pollution which pose a serious threat to human health. In some cases, poor handling and failure to use proper protective clothing when applying these agro-chemicals has resulted in human health problems, e.g. skin diseases. Poor land use practices particularly in the medium and low potential areas have resulted in soil erosion, land degradation, deforestation and loss of bio-diversity. This has led to poor productivity from the land, thereby resulting in malnutrition, famine and increased poverty.
The root causes of these problems include: lack of consideration for environmental and natural resources management issues in crop and livestock improvement packages, lack of close collaboration among the various partners working on crop and livestock improvement, public health, natural resources management, and generally lack of an integrated and holistic approach in designing agriculture research and development programmes. In order to have sustainable crop and livestock improvement programmes, it is imperative to change these past approaches and instead adopt more integrated and holistic approaches.
Kenya's total land area covers 576,076 km2. Of this only 20 per cent is of high and medium potential with adequate and reliable rainfall for arable agriculture. The remaining 80% is either arid or semi-arid land (ASAL) receiving little and erratic rainfall.
The bulk (98%) of the farm holdings in Kenya are small (<10 ha) and lie mainly in the high potential areas. The medium and large scale farms account for about 2% of the holdings, but cover about 54% of the area farmed (Table 1). Nationally, the average farm size is about 2.5 ha. The number of holdings is increasing fast due to the continued sub-division of both small- and large-scale holdings.
In the high potential (HP) areas, mixed crop–livestock system is practised. The major enterprises are cash crops (coffee, tea, horticulture) and dairy production. The main food crops grown are maize and beans. There is high human population density and land scarcity is a major problem. Consequently there is continued migration of people from the HP areas into the medium and low potential areas.
In the medium potential (MP) areas also mixed crop–livestock system is practised, but the crops involved are low rainfall crops. The main livestock enterprises are beef and small ruminant production.
Livestock production, mainly beef and small ruminants are the major enterprises in the low potential arid, semi-arid areas. The livestock is reared mainly under nomadic pastoralism and limited ranching. In the pastoral areas, there is no individual land ownership, and grazing land is communally owned. Drought, water shortages and some diseases such as East Coast fever (ECF), Contagious Bovine Pleuro-Pneumonia (CBPP), Contagious Caprine Pleuro-Pneumonia (CCPP), and Rift Valley Fever among others, are the main constraints to livestock production in these areas.
Table 1. Distribution of farm holdings by size (1994).
|
Size of holding |
Number of holdings (million) |
Percent holding by class |
Percent of national total |
|
Small (<10 ha ) |
|||
|
Under 2 ha |
2.23 |
83 |
81 |
|
2–10 ha |
0.74 |
17 |
17 |
|
Total holdings |
2.97 |
100 |
98 |
|
Total Area (m. ha) |
3.20 |
– |
46 |
|
Average size (ha) |
1.20 |
– |
– |
|
Medium |
|||
|
10–20 ha. |
33.30 |
60 |
1.2 |
|
20–60 ha. |
19.70 |
40 |
0.7 |
|
Total holdings |
53.00 |
100 |
1.9 |
|
Total area (m. ha) |
1.04 |
– |
15.0 |
|
Average size (ha) |
20.00 |
– |
– |
|
Large |
|||
|
60–200 ha |
1.641 |
47 |
0.05 |
|
Over 200 ha |
1.787 |
53 |
0.06 |
|
Total holdings |
3.430 |
100 |
0.10 |
|
Total area (m. ha) |
2.700 |
– |
39.00 |
|
Average size (ha) |
77.80 |
– |
– |
|
National Total |
|||
|
Holdings |
2.75 |
100 |
|
|
Area (m. ha) |
6.90 |
100 |
|
|
Average size (ha) |
2.50 |
||
Source: Unpublished data (Ministry of Agriculture).
In response to the growing demand for the agriculture sector to produce more food to feed the rapidly increasing human population and produce adequate raw materials for agro-industries and for export, several research and development efforts have been undertaken in the sector.
In the high potential areas, the research and development efforts have emphasised intensification of crop and livestock production. This has been done through the use of high yielding crop varieties and improved livestock breeds, fertilisers, various types of agro-chemicals for crop and livestock enterprises, intensive livestock rearing such as zero-grazing dairy production system, intensive poultry and pig production among others.
In the medium potential areas, the research and development efforts have concentrated on integration of livestock and crop production activities, soil and water conservation, growing of drought tolerant and early maturing crops. In some areas, irrigation schemes have also been set up to enhance crop production.
In the low potential areas, development efforts have focused on water harvesting through use of earth dams and water pans, provision of stock routes and holding grounds to facilitate livestock marketing.
The research and development efforts which have been undertaken have resulted in positive impacts such as increased yields, employment, food security, and income, but some negative effects have arisen in some cases. These include direct and indirect adverse effects on human health, and some serious environmental problems. This has been largely due to lack of proper use of inputs, particularly the agro-chemicals as illustrated below.
This has mainly involved the intensification of dairy, poultry and pig production on the smallholder farms in peri-urban areas. The main objective is to maximise production from the limited available land. The intensification of diary production has been done through use of zero-grazing systems by small-scale farmers. The system is based mainly on Napier grass grown on the farms and utilised under cut-and-carry system. The intensification of the dairy production has been backed by several years of research and development on Napier grass production and utilisation on small-scale farms. The National Dairy Development Project which operated in several high potential districts, has supported the diary intensification for several years.
The intensification of poultry production has been done through use of deep litter and slatted floor housing systems. Like dairy production, poultry production has been supported by the National Poultry Development Project for several years. The project has been promoting the upgrading of the local birds using exotic breeds through a cockerel exchange programme. The project has also been facilitating the availability of broilers and layers day-old chicks to the farmers especially those far away from the hatcheries.
The intensification of livestock production has been backed-up by increased use of various types of agro-chemicals for animal health management. These include drugs such as dewormers, acaricides, coccidiostats, bacteriacides; and various types of vaccines.
The intensification of livestock production in the high potential areas has resulted in several positive impacts which include:
increased production of milk, eggs, meat and other livestock products that in turn helped improve the nutritional status of the farmer and his family and increased income from sale of these products
increased employment in the rural areas and peri-urban areas
land saving
complementarity between livestock and crop production; for instance, the manure from the zero-grazing and the poultry rearing units has been used for fertilising crop enterprises thereby leading to high crop yields.
Although intensification of livestock production has resulted in several positive impacts as noted above, there has been some negative effects as well. These include:
acaricide pollution of the soil, water sources and other natural resources. Some of the farmers practising zero-grazing system of dairy production in the high potential areas, spray their cattle in the open using acaricides for tick control. This is common in areas where cattle dips are not functional. After spraying, the acaricide seeps into the ground and some of it is washed by rain water into water sources such as dams and water wells. This causes pollution of the soil and the water sources which is a serious threat to human health in these areas.
drug residue contamination of livestock products such as milk and meat. This has arisen in cases where the safe withdrawal period is not observed after the administration of various drugs to the animals. This is a health hazard to the people utilising these livestock products.
Like livestock production, intensification of crop production in the high potential areas has been undertaken to maximise yield from small-scale farms. Some of the major crops whose production has been intensified include cash crops such as coffee, tea and horticultural crops. The food crops include maize, beans and vegetables among others. The crop intensification has also been backed up by increased use of various types of agro-chemicals such as fertilisers, herbicides, fungicides, pesticides etc.
In the coffee growing zones of the high potential areas, several research and development efforts have been undertaken to improve coffee production. Through introduction of high yielding varieties and increased use of fertilisers and various types of agro-chemicals to control coffee diseases and pests.
There has been increased use of various types of agro-chemicals to enhance horticulture production. This is particularly so for the high value horticultural crops for export such as cut flowers, French beans etc.
The positive impacts which have resulted from intensification of crops like coffee and horticulture include: high yields of the crops, high quality crop produce, increased income derived from sale of the increased crop yield, increased employment in the rural areas, improved standard of living arising from higher income.
The adverse effects of intensification of crop production include:
increase in pollution of the natural resources such as soil and water sources which is a threat to human health. The agro-chemicals sprayed on coffee and horticulture crops in the field drip down and seep into the soil. Some of it is washed by rain water into rivers and other water sources such as dams.
contamination of food crops with agro-chemicals. It is common for some coffee farmers to inter-crop coffee with food crops such as beans, vegetables and others. This is particularly so when the prices of coffee go down. In such situations, the agro-chemicals sprayed on the coffee contaminates the food crops thereby posing a serious threat to the health of the people utilising these food crops.
in coffee processing, some factories have been known to drain their effluent directly into rivers which are used as sources of water for human and livestock downstream.
in some cases, poor handling of some of these agro-chemicals has resulted in human health problems such as skin diseases and other related conditions.
Some irrigation schemes to enhance crop production have been set up in medium potential areas. Examples of these include Bura and Mweya Irrigation schemes. The positive impacts of irrigation include: increased crop yields, increased income accruing from the sale of the high crop yields, and increased employment in the irrigation schemes.
The adverse effects include increased cases of human disease such as malaria, bilharzia, cholera etc in the irrigation schemes and the surrounding areas. This is due to the proliferation of disease vectors which use the irrigation structures such as dams, furrows and basins as breeding grounds.
The scarcity of land in the HP areas has resulted in increased migration of people into new settlement schemes in the MP and LP areas. These immigrants usually start crop and livestock production using their farming knowledge gained in the HP areas where they came from. This include growing of high rainfall crops in low potential areas, inter-cropping, intensive tilling of the land etc. In most cases, these practices result in crop failure, famine, malnutrition and increased poverty which have a negative impact on human welfare.
The root cause of the problems arising from crop and livestock improvement efforts is the lack of an integrated and holistic approach when designing research and development programmes for crop and livestock improvement. In the past, most research and development efforts have been focused on specific aspects without considering the many other issues which are inter-related with it. Collaboration has also been weak between the crop and livestock improvement agents and their colleagues in public health, natural resource management, soil sciences and social sciences among others.
Therefore, for sustainable crop and livestock improvement, it is imperative to learn from the mistakes of the past, and adopt new strategies. These include:
adoption of an integrated and holistic approach when designing crop and livestock research and development programmes
close collaboration among the various partners and stakeholders not only in the crop and livestock fields, but also in other fields such as human health, natural resources management, soil science, social sciences etc
strengthening of extension efforts with respect to input use, particularly agro-chemicals, land use practices and other related issues
incorporation of environmental and natural resources management issues in crop and livestock improvement packages.
