Baseline Study for the Horticulture for Growth (H4G) Project: Promoting Horticulture Enterprise Development in Kenya

Overview

Draft baseline study for the 3-year Horticulture for Growth (H4G) project, implemented by a consortium of Solidaridad ECA, Solidaridad Europe, Syngenta East Africa, Syngenta Foundation and FPEAK. The project targets 30,000 smallholder horticulture households in Kirinyaga, Makueni, Laikipia, Bomet, Elgeyo Marakwet, Nakuru and Nyandarua counties, Kenya, to improve food security, income, resilience and business case development. The study set baseline values for the results framework across four pathways: grower awareness and good practices, access to finance and quality inputs, market access, and an enabling policy environment. It also profiled institutions, farmer organisations, exporters and county policies.

Key findings

• Of 906 farmers interviewed, 61% were female and 72% lived in male-headed households; mixed crop-livestock farming was the main activity (60%), and horticulture contributed on average 44% of household income among crop farmers.
• 27.5% of farmers lived above the poverty line (Kenya PPI), ranging from 20% in Elgeyo Marakwet to 34% in Kirinyaga, and about 26% said they could withstand financial or food-security shocks (41% in Kirinyaga vs 11.5% in Bomet).
• 33.5% of farmers were aware of climate-smart technologies (45% in Kirinyaga, 22.5% in Makueni), but only 12% had been trained in climate-smart horticulture practices, and 31% had been trained in crop protection and safe use of pesticides.
• Adoption of improved farming technologies ranged from 45% in Kirinyaga to 17% in Makueni; 29% had been trained in sustainable soil management, but only 5% were linked to soil-testing providers and 1.5% had had their soil tested.
• Awareness of production protocols and food safety standards was 14.5%, and only 6.5% of farmers had received training on production protocols.
• 37.5% of farmers had received financial literacy training and 22% training in proposal and business plan development; on average 23% had accessed agricultural credit (36% in Nakuru).
• 45% of farmers could access quality farm inputs, 38% were linked to credible input or service providers, and only 5% could access inputs through check-off systems.

In figures

Recommendations

• Build on previous and ongoing projects (e.g. NARIGP) to continue support for conservation agriculture and efficient farming practices.
• Support county governments to benchmark and share learning with other counties, and run advocacy and dialogue workshops to develop and implement horticulture policies and legislation.
• Train youth as spray service providers to improve safe and efficient use of agrochemicals.
• Strengthen farmer cooperatives' management capacity and support smallholder groups through GlobalGAP certification.
• Improve availability of farm inputs and farmer awareness of their use, and expand services to farmers, especially financial services for women, market information and extension.
• Promote value addition, diversification into high-value and nutritious crops, and natural resource management and climate-smart practices, with advisory services for vulnerable groups.
• Improve vulnerable producers' access to social protection and basic services, and support the establishment and functioning of community groups.

Methodology

Participatory mixed-methods baseline: desk review, a CAPI-based household survey of 906 horticulture farmers across the seven counties, key informant interviews (target 15 per county, 105 in total) with regulators, sector bodies, service providers and exporters, and 3 FGDs per county; quantitative data analysed in SPSS.