Smallholder farmers in Nakuru county have been urged to adopt technology and mechanised agriculture to boost food production and its quality.
Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries county executive Leonard Bor said the notion that mechanisation was only for those in large-scale farming was misguided and a threat to Kenya’s food security.
He spoke after Mauka Cooperative Society inked an MoU with American firm Hello Tractor to facilitate mechanisation of small-scale farmers towards enhancing productivity and profitability.
Bor said technological advancements and innovations have helped small-scale farmers improve productivity.
He said the devolved unit in partnership with Hello Tractor had set up a mechanisation hub at Mauka Cooperative Society in Mauche ward in Njoro. This links providers of mechanised farm services with smallholder farmers who do not have agricultural machinery.
The executive said the initiative was aimed at giving younger farmers opportunities to embrace better food production to increase yields in addition to making farming attractive to the younger generation.
“We envision a situation where small holder farmers have access to subsidised mechanisation to help reduce over reliance on human labour which is not economical,” Bor said.
The county official who was accompanied by Hello Tractor partnerships leader Quinta Onditi, said technological advancements have enabled the manufacture of light and cheaper machines that can help smallholder farmers revolutionise agriculture both in terms of quantity and quality of products grown and processed.
“The need to boost crop yields to feed Kenyans is becoming a priority where technological advancements and innovations will help small-scale farmers improve productivity thus making agriculture more profitable," Bor said.
He said mechanised farming contributed to timely preparation of land, efficient use and increased production besides reducing the cost of production and creating more employment opportunities, particularly among the youth.
The executive said there was need for traders and dealers in agricultural machinery to equip small holder farmers with technical know-how to operate and maintain the machinery through field days, workshops, farm visits and seminars to enable them become commercially successful.
He said the county was working with dealers and manufacturers of farm machinery to ensure their products targeting small-scale farmers were built with simplicity of design, unsurpassed reliability, outstanding fuel economy and minimal maintenance requirements.
He added that the county was encouraging dealers in farm equipment whose services should consist of genuine spare parts centres and nationwide mobile service coverage to set up shop in Nakuru.
He advised that asset financing should be tailor-made to suit the abilities of both small holders and large-scale farmers as some new farmers lack experience with planters, tractors and implements. Dealers were encouraged to put in place training as part of the package for new owners.
Onditi said with the continent’s population expected to double by 2050, it will require enormous effort to feed the people. She said its time the continent ditches the hoe in favour of modern technology.
The technology, she added will complete the same tasks more efficiently, adding that youthful entrepreneurs can enter Kenya’s agricultural mechanisation sector and make a great business out of it.
“In Kenya, there are only two tractors for every 2,500 acres. Kenyan youth need to keep their eyes and innovative prowess around the agriculture sector," she said.
"At the moment, mechanisation levels on farms across Africa are very low, with the number of tractors in Sub-Saharan Africa ranging from 1.3 per square kilometres in Rwanda to 43 per square kilometres in South Africa, compared with 128 per square kilometres in India and 116 per square kilometres in Brazil,” Onditi said.
Kenyan farmers are still shying away from modernisation due to lack of capital. According to the World Bank report on Agribusiness Indicators, the degree of mechanisation in Kenya is about three tractors per 1,000 hectares or 26.9 tractors per 100 square kilometres.
The report indicates that despite the potential that mechanisation has in transforming agriculture by helping farmers to intensify their businesses, mechanisation levels remain very low in Kenya and across the continent.