Kenya’s Agricultural Extension Services

Issues, Challenges, Future Perspectives

BY RICHARD GITHAIGASTATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

KENYADURING MEAS SYMPOSIUM WASHINGTON DC 4 JUNE 2015

Extension providers in Kenya

• public sector (central and local Governments, SOEs, research and training institutions)

• Cooperatives• private companies • NGOs, FBOs, and CBOs.

Extension Delivery Models

1. Offering free public extension services, mostly to smallholder farmers

2. Partial cost shared provision of extension services,

3. Fully commercialised mostly private companies, Cooperatives and quasi-public organisations.

Challenges

• Declining human resources • Declining financial resources • Uncoordinated/Unregulated pluralistic extension

services delivery • Poor linkages with other market services.

Devolution Challenges

Extension devolved since 2013• Local decision-makers/legislators, not appreciating

the importance of extension • Diversion of extension budget to quick return

activities and infrastructure projects. • Assigning of extension staff to non extension tasks• Hiring of non-agriculture personnel for agricultural

extension positions.

Future perspectives

• Regulation of pluralistic extension services National stakeholders fora (KeFAAS)

launchedGuidelines and standards being developedLegal framework to be developed

• Contracting out of extension services to the private sector with farmer empowerment

• Making use of information technology• Stakeholder driven trust fund

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