STRENGTHENING SEED SYSTEMS AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT IN KENYA: PERSPECTIVES ON POLITICAL ECONOMY AND POLICY PROCESSES
CABE in conjunction with Tegemeo Institute is organizing a two-day workshop on Strengthening Seed Systems and Market Development.
Seed systems in Africa south of the Sahara have been a central topic in the public discourse as part of wider conversations on policy options for agriculture and rural development. Although seed systems in the region have followed different development trajectories, they do seem to be affected by political economy, farming system, agroecological, and market development factors that policymakers and stakeholders must address if the systems are to thrive. Political economy issues appear to shape the debate, including limited support for agricultural research, restrictive regulations and inadequate capacity of regulatory agencies, and weak vertical and horizontal coordination among different key actors. Political economy refers to actors and coalitions of actors with competing perspectives, interests, and resources shaping seed policy change processes in each country and for each crop (see Hassena et al. (2016) and Alemu (2011) on Ethiopia). Policy and regulatory reforms are purported to facilitate increased production, delivery, and uptake of improved seeds and technologies. Influencing government agencies to initiate the review of existing and enact new policies involves many stakeholders including a range of seed industry players such as regulatory agencies, parliament, agricultural technical groups, government policy directorates, public and private research agencies and seed associations.
Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development of Egerton University and Centre for African Bio-Entrepreneurship (CABE) in partnership with International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) conducted a study between June and October 2019 to assess the pace and dynamics of policy change and the factors that affect the development of maize and potato seed systems and of markets in Kenya. The study involved a review of key policy, regulatory, and strategy documents relevant to seed system and market development in the country, with a focus on the progress made in strengthening maize and potato seed systems and markets and political economy factors that have influenced policy adoption and outcomes. The review was augmented with information from key informant interviews and focus group discussions with a wide range of actors in the respective seed systems.
The workshop will be at Sarova Panafric Hotel, Nairobi on 19th and 20th July 2022
Utafiti Sera Youth Employment Creation in Agriculture and Agro-processing policy dialogue
East Africa Rice Conference
Equity Group commits Kshs20bn loan to medium-sized farmers
A farmer waters vegetables in a farm. Equity Group commits Kshs20bn for to medium sized farmers
Equity Group Foundation through its Agriculture Entrepreneurship Accelerator Programme is committing Ksh20 billion in the next five years in a plan to transform farming into commercial ventures through loans to medium-sized farmers. The funding seeks to benefit farmers with 10-100 acres to turn farming into serious commercial enterprises in order to enhance food security and bridge the annual deficit.
Agricultural Policy Research in Africa
Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) is a five-year (2016-2021) Research Programme Consortium funded by UK aid from the UK Government through DFID. The programme is based at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK (www.ids.ac.uk), with regional hubs in Eastern Africa (Nairobi), West Africa (Ghana), and Southern Africa (South Africa. It has six (6) focal countries across East, West and Southern Africa (Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe) representing a diverse range of commercialisation contexts and activities.
CABE hosts the Eastern Africa Hub of APRA and plays a coordination and governance role with specified roles on engaging and influencing policy and practice on agricultural commercialisation and its outcomes. These include: organising regional/ international conferences, workshops to share research results, and feedback on mid-term and end to Reference Groups and wider regional and national stakeholders and policy audiences.
APRA aims to produce new information and insights into different pathways to agricultural commercialisation in order to assess their impacts and outcomes on rural poverty, women’s and girl’s empowerment and food and nutrition security in Sub-Saharan Africa. The programme has four interlinked objectives: (1) generating high-quality evidence on pathways to agricultural commercialisation in Africa, using a rigorous mix of quantitative and qualitative methods; (2) undertaking policy research on agricultural commercialisation to fill key evidence gaps and define policy options; (3) ensuring the sharing and uptake of research by a diverse range of stakeholders; (4) strengthening the capacity of the research team, and associated partner institutions, to deliver high-quality research and advice.
The programme has just completed a one-year inception and moving into the first year of implementation. It is expected to facilitate policies on and investments in commercial agriculture to be more effective in terms of their impact on rural poverty, food and nutrition security, particularly in relation to women and girls; and provide a much better understanding of the political economy behind decision making on agricultural commercialisation in Africa. Read more on APRA: (http://www.future-agricultures.org/apra).
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