Ugali under threat as farmers ditch maize for other crops

 

The planting season is here but Charles  Kiptum, a maize farmer at Kapkoi Scheme, Trans Nzoia county will be ditching maize for the first time in 36 years. 

The 82-year-old farmer has been harvesting an average of 20 bags per acre from his 20-acre piece but says production costs have continued to erode yields for the past decade. 

" I used to get an average of 34 bags per acre up until the early 2000s when things changed for the worse. I've been operating at a loss since then and this must end now. The feeling is the same amongst my fellow farmers here,'' Kiptum told the Star. 

He attributes this to the rising cost of inputs, price saturation by middlemen who are importing from neighbouring countries and a poor climate that has seen crops either dry from prolonged droughts or rot from heavy rains. 

"I am yet to sell some of the maize harvested in 2022. My 2023 stock is still intact despite spending close to Sh50,000 in production. A 90-kg bag is now selling at Sh4500 or Sh4,800 on the higher side leading to losses after losses,'' he laments. 

The octogenarian now wants to venture into kale, cowpeas, onions and assorted traditional vegetables, following in his younger brother's footsteps.

"My young brother embraced change in 2015 and is now reaping dividends. He is earning a cool Sh200,000 from his 10 acres every five weeks. His production costs are way lower,'' he said. 

Willington Mukasa who has been growing maize for over two decades on his five-acre farm in the neighbouring Moi Farm scheme has chosen an unconventional way.

He agrees with Kiptum that the pride of maize farming is sinking more people in the region into abject poverty. 

This planting season, Mukasa has earmarked four of his acres for tree planting for long-term gains.

"Anyone who has constructed a house in this region will agree with me that timber is super expensive due to the lack of enough trees. I have dedicated some 400 trees per acre with a potential yield of at least 1,500 mature trees by 2035,'' he said.

According to him, trees require less attention compared to maize which he says is giving him stress.

"I just need to plant and watch them grow. Today, a mature tree is going for at least 28,000. The price will have skyrocketed in the next decade. I have an acre to cater for my subsistence needs,'' Mukasa says. 

The last yield disappointed him. He managed only 12 bags per acre which he sold at Sh5,000 per bag

"This could not even repay my investment costs," he  says.

David Matendechere, a maize farmer in Turbo, Uasin Gishu agrees with Charles and Mukasa. He is counting losses after half of his maize stock was infested by weevils. 

"I'll be trying out passion fruits for change. Maize farming used to be profitable and respectable. This has since changed and I hope fellow farmers will smell the coffee soon," he says.

A similar trend is witnessed across the maize-growing regions in Uasin Gishu and Nakuru counties. 

A spot check by the Star shows most farmers are opting for fruits, vegetables, sunflowers and dairy farming.

An agriculturalist Patrick Maiyo is not surprised by the new trend and in fact warns that the country could soon be forced to import 75 per cent of its staple food. 

"There is no motivation to grow maize in this country. Although the government is intervening with fertiliser and seed subsidies, production costs are still too high and farmers are not protected from cannibalism by middlemen,'' Maiyo said. 

"It is a shame for a country to neglect its staple food. What is Uganda doing that we have failed to grasp? I'm for farmers finding alternatives.''

A senior researcher at Tegemeo Insitute who requested to remain anonymous is worried that even small-scale farmers who rely on the crop for daily food are seeking alternatives. 

The contribution of smallholder farmers to the country's maize basket continues to drop as they seek alternatives, further hurting overall production which has been decreasing since the 1960s. 

Yields increased in the 1960s and 1970s from 1 to 1.5 tonnes/ha, but have remained there since the mid-1980s. At the same time, the area has not increased, so production remains fairly constant.

Per capita, maize consumption shows a steady downward trend from about 90 kilograms in 2003 to 67.5 kilograms in 2012.

It is projected to decline further to 56.3 kilograms in 2022, as consumers increasingly substitute cooking bananas, Irish potato, sweet potato, and cassava in place of maize as a result of increasing incomes, and higher urbanisation rates.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, maize production decreased from 42.1 million bags in 2020 to 36.7 million bags in 2021 and 34.3 million bags in 2022 and 33 million last year. 

To fill the deficit, the country normally imports from Uganda and Tanzania.

However, the current deficit is so large (estimated at 400,000 to 700,000 metric tonnes) that imports from the international market have been required.

An economist Ezekiel Kiama is worried that poor maize production is contributing heavily to the country's inflation and could likely spin into a national security threat. 

"Maize is Kenya's staple crop hence anything that limits production is likely to hurt the overall cost of living. While change is good, it will take long for the country to look at maize as a secondary crop,'' Kiama told the Star. 

''The government must ensure maize production is cheap and that it has enough stock just like other strategic products like oil. Anything below that can easily precipitate into a crisis.''

by VICTOR AMADALA