Table 4-2 – Agriculture and Livestock SWOT

4.2 Agriculture and Livestock

Sector Action Plan

The agriculture and livestock industry is one of Kenya’s ‘Big Four’ sectoral priorities, with a crucial role in the Vision 2030 development programme, accounting for approximately 51% of national GCP and 56% of employment3. Similarly, agriculture and livestock represent a vital foundation of both Makueni County and Wote Municipality’s economy, accounting for 78% of the County’s total household income and 47.2% of total GCP.

Agriculture and livestock practices are predominantly focused on subsistence farming in Makueni County, with fairly limited commercial farming at present. With regards to livestock, animals reared include beef and dairy cattle, poultry, goats and sheep, in addition to a growing adoption of apiculture. Major crops grown include maize, green grams and pigeon peas, as well as high-production fruits like mangoes and citrus fruits.

Wote Municipality has a significant amount of land and resources available for agriculture and livestock production. However, there are a number of existing issues which have resulted in comparatively low output and productivity, including a lack of training and knowledge on modern technologies and high-yielding crop varieties, as well as increasingly unpredictable weather patterns due to climate change. In addition, the agricultural value chains in Wote currently fails to effectively link its inputs, production, processing and marketing. As such, the UEP provides an opportunity to develop climate-resilient value chains and support farmers in adapting to these changing conditions, while improving the productivity of the sector and value addition.

From the Diagnostic Report analysis, the following key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats were established. These were used to determine the actions proposed in the following section.

3 World Bank, Kenya Economic Update, Edition n.19 (2019) Table 4-2 – Agriculture and Livestock SWOT

Strengths

› Makueni County is endowed with a diverse selection of agro-ecological zones, which support a range of agricultural production. › Favourable conditions for horticulture crops in Wote, as well as relatively fertile soils. › Substantial livestock resources and vast livestock wealth, with

Makueni being the fourth largest producer of poultry in Kenya. › Dairy farming is gaining prominence in the County due to increased demand for milk and ongoing government interventions. › Limited value addition and low marketing of both agricultural and livestock products. › Relatively low productivity, largely due to a lack of appropriate modern technologies and limited skills/knowledge amongst farmers. › Inadequate land use policy and population growth has resulted in the subdivision of agricultural land into uneconomical sizes. › Poor road network infrastructure constrains transport of inputs, as well as moving agricultural produce/livestock to markets.

Opportunities

› Establishment of agri-processing industries presents opportunities for value addition and the reduction of post-harvest losses. › Potential for trade and commercialisation of produce, given the

County’s location with regards to major food consumption cities. › Thwake Dam – if completed as planned – will significantly expand irrigation potential for agricultural production across Wote. › Climate change: increasing floods and droughts, unpredictable rainfall, temperature fluctuations, new and intensifying diseases. › Urbanisation and population increases will place increasing pressure on existing land available for both agriculture and livestock. › High levels of competition for agriculture and livestock products from neighbouring counties and larger counties across Kenya.

Source: Atkins analysis

The Sector Action Plan, outlined in Table 4-3, should be viewed as a practical sequence of actions to support the climate-smart development of the agriculture and livestock sector, taking into account the Municipality’s existing strengths and weaknesses. The Plan is centred on the anchor project of the Climate Smart Aggregation and Service Centre, which are presented as a potential pilot scheme for the sector to catalyse climate-resilient development.

Introduced in Section 4.2.1, the anchor project comprises a network of local aggregation and service centres positioned across County, supported by a central hub at Kwa Kathoka ATC. In addition to collecting, packing and dispatching produce, the centres would provide climate-smart training programmes and extension services for farmers, whilst also acting as a conduit for investment finance and insurance. These climate-smart services are presented in detail, including several best practice case studies to exemplify how such schemes can be implemented effectively through the Aggregation Centres. Due to the inherently interrelated nature of the identified key economic sectors of Agri-Processing and Industry and Trade and Services with the Agriculture and Livestock Sector, the anchor project and strategic interventions outlined are also likely to have significant potential for specific benefits for the other sectors and vice versa.

Weaknesses

Threats