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Viewing cable 06NAIROBI1775, USAID Assessment of Food Security

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06NAIROBI1775 2006-04-25 14:16 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Nairobi
VZCZCXYZ0005
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNR #1775/01 1151416
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251416Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1241
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 6919
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 8451
RUEHDJ/AMEMBASSY DJIBOUTI 4138
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 1649
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 4884
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 3883
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
UNCLAS NAIROBI 001775 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC AFDROUGHT 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EPRATT 
USAID/W FOR AA/DCHA, WGARVELINK, LROGERS 
DCHA/OFDA FOR GGOTTLIEB, PMORRIS, CGOTTSCHALK, 
KCHANNELL 
DCHA/FFP FOR JDWORKEN 
AFR/EA FOR JBORNS 
USUN FOR EMALY 
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER 
ROME FOR FODAG 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
NSC FOR JMELINE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID KE
SUBJECT:  USAID Assessment of Food Security 
Activities in Kenya's Kitui District 
 
Summary 
 
1.  Agricultural inputs provided by USAID/OFDA 
partner Catholic Relief Services (CRS) improved 
crop production and diversification among 
vulnerable farmers in Kenya's Kitui District 
despite a poor short rains in 2005.  Farmers 
saved seeds from the last harvest and are 
preparing to plant this season.  Recommended 
activities to further boost food security in the 
district include livelihood fairs, as well as 
outreach and education on optimal farming 
methods.  End Summary. 
 
2.  On April 13, a USAID assessment team traveled 
to Kitui District in Kenya?s Eastern Province to 
assess the effects of drought on the agricultural 
communities and view the impact of USAID/OFDA- 
funded seed fair programs.  The team included 
USAID/OFDA Regional Advisor for East and Central 
Africa, USAID/OFDA Agriculture and Food Security 
Advisor, and USAID/FFP Kenya Backstop. 
 
USAID/OFDA Seed Fair Program in Kitui District 
 
3.  In Ikanga town, the assessment team visited a 
group of women beneficiaries of a USAID/OFDA- 
funded seed fair program implemented by CRS. 
Successive failed rainy seasons and poor crop 
production in 2005 left agricultural communities 
with scarce inputs for the 2005/2006 season.  In 
December 2005, CRS conducted a series of seed 
fairs in Kitui District, targeting 4,000 
vulnerable households. 
 
4.  The CRS Seed Fair intervention is designed to 
strengthen marginal farmers and the local 
agricultural supply infrastructure by providing 
farmer choice and support to local seed systems. 
Through the exchange of vouchers, local farmers 
are linked to local seed producers and input 
vendors to prepare for the agriculture season. 
Farmers also benefit from extension services and 
demonstration plots that introduce drought 
tolerant crop varieties.  Benefits of the program 
include keeping money for agricultural inputs in 
the local community and at times increasing the 
use of improved local seed varieties among 
farmers. 
 
5.  The program provided beneficiaries access to 
more than 77,000 kilos of pigeonpea, green gram, 
cowpea, millet, and sorghum seed.  Noticeably 
absent from the seed fairs was maize.  As maize 
is poorly adapted for the dry climactic 
conditions in the region, farmers who plant it 
get minimal results, resulting in ill-used land, 
labor, and seeds.  CRS offered a variety of seed 
to encourage farmer adoption of better 
climactically suited choices and to increase food 
security through greater production. 
 
6.  In addition to seed, CRS provided small 
packets of fertilizer at the seed fairs on an 
experimental basis.  CRS provided beneficiaries 
with training for correct application.  Some 
beneficiaries did not apply the fertilizer due to 
inadequate climactic conditions?the women were 
told to use the fertilizer once the plants are 
six inches high and when the ground is moist. 
When asked if they would have chosen more seeds 
 
 
 
or fertilizer if they had to use their vouchers, 
answers varied based on an assessment of their 
land's fertility.  In the future, if fertilizer 
is part of a seed fair, farmers should purchase 
the packets with their vouchers based on their 
decision and estimation of need.  As it is an 
expensive input, beneficiaries should "pay" even 
with vouchers so that the decision is made with 
real cost in mind. 
 
7.  In Kitui, 70 percent of the year's crops are 
harvested during the November-January season 
while the other 30 percent is produced between 
April and June.  CRS reports that farmers 
throughout Kitui District harvested only 10 
percent of the November-January crops due to 
erratic and poorly distributed rains.  According 
to CRS, millet performed best, with sorghum and 
cow peas following. 
 
8.  In Ikanga town, where the short rains were 
relatively steady, beneficiaries managed to 
harvest a surprising amount?some reporting yields 
of up to 200 kilos?and most managed to save some 
seed for the current planting season.  One woman 
planted two kilos of green grams on her two-acre 
farm and reaped two 90-kilo bags of grain.  She 
saved one-half of a bag for family and sold the 
other one and a half bags.  With this money she 
paid school fees for her children and helped less 
fortunate households in the community.  With the 
recent arrival of the long rains, the women are 
enthusiastic about the next season and are 
preparing to plant. 
 
9.  Nearly all beneficiaries had sourced maize 
seed on their own and had harvested some.  While 
the beneficiaries all agreed that millet and 
sorghum outperformed the maize in the last 
season, increased outreach and education is 
required in order to increase the use of more 
well-adapted crops.  In regards to why the women 
continued to plant maize, they said they were not 
accustomed to using sorghum in recipes and that 
their children preferred the taste of maize.  In 
addition, the women had trouble keeping birds out 
of the millet. 
 
Observations 
 
10.  Despite saving seeds from last season?s 
harvest, beneficiaries asked when the seed would 
be coming this year.  Although this is a common 
response, it highlights the importance of 
discussion exit strategies early and often with 
beneficiaries.  CRS should respond to these 
enquiries with a discussion of exit strategy. 
Ideally, implementing partners should discuss end 
limits of programs with beneficiaries from the 
very beginning.  The objective of the program is 
to strengthen local seed systems and enable 
farmer choice. 
 
11.  The women explained that they were not 
asking for seeds for themselves, rather because 
those who saved seeds would be expected to share 
with farmers who had none.  The request could 
signal either an increased need in the district 
this season or a miscalculation in targeting, 
meaning that the most vulnerable may have been 
missed.  CRS will work with community groups to 
 
identify and target the most vulnerable members 
for upcoming seed fairs in July. 
 
12.  Despite CRS's efforts to disseminate 
information on improved agricultural methods, 
farmers were planting seeds every time it rained 
and spacing was haphazard at the farms visited. 
Enhanced agriculture extension activities should 
complement future seed distribution programs. 
Discussions on optimal planting methods should 
accompany seed fairs to further enhance 
productive capacity.  Since the last harvest, CRS 
and Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture staff have 
capitalized on monthly food distribution forums 
to educate communities on dryland crop production 
and soil fertility in an effort to enhance 
agricultural capability prior to the current 
planting season. 
 
12.  Based on the success of the program and the 
need to further support livelihoods in the area 
through diversification of income generation, a 
potential future intervention could be a 
livelihoods fair in which beneficiaries are 
entitled to choose among seeds, small livestock 
(for example, goats or rabbits), and tools. 
 
BELLAMY