BERTOUA, Cameroon (PAMACC News)—As night falls, scores of timber trucks line up at a weighing station outside the city center here, one of the last rituals before the long road trip to the port city of Douala, nearly 600km away.
Every day, trucks like these, with logs of timber stream through bumpy earth roads onto the highway at the dead of night; and head to Douala, from where they are shipped to foreign markets.
“The East region is very rich in timber,” says Andre Lepot, a resident in Batouri, a town that has become known for timber exploitation, more than anything else. “We have seen this happen since we were kids.”
Timber is Cameroon’s second most important export commodity after crude oil. In the past decades, logging has increased, attracting Chinese, Lebanese, French, and other foreign companies.
The country is one of the leading exporters of tropical timber to the European Union.
“We have observed a surge in timber trade activities with the increased presence of foreign timber business operators especially from China and Indonesia in the sector,” says Bernard Njonga, coordinator of the Local Development Initiatives Support Service, an NGO in Cameroon.
“Cameroon’s forest has continued to be logged to feed the country’s growing timber market.”
Logging in Cameroon is shrouded in illegality. Illegal timber exploitation is severe and getting worse in the country, say officials and environmental protection workers.
“Without being an expert, I can say that before exploiters fell only large trees,” says ZeVina, a resident of Ebolowa in the South region, another timber exploitation center. “But today we see timber of all dimensions transported away in trucks.”
Ze describes Cameroon's timber sector as anarchic. Both legal and illegal exploiters are involved in unlawful activities, particularly harvesting timber below the legal size, and outside designated concessions, he says.
Weak legal systems and deteriorating control mechanisms are fueling an unprecedented frenzy of illegal logging and wildlife trade that is fast depleting the nation's natural forest resources, PAMACC News found.
“Illegal forest exploitation and logging business in the country has been compounded by ineffective and discriminatory law enforcement,” says Njonga. “This betrays the sincerity of the government in forest governance reforms.”
In the East and South regions, vast expanses of forests now lay bare, one of the main consequences of rampant and illegal exploitation.
According to Global Forest Watch, an online forest monitoring platform, Cameroon lost 657,000 hectares of forest between 2001 and 2014, with the annual rate of loss rising over the period to around 141,000 hectares in 2014.
“The government does not respect its laws and many forest malpractices go unpunished,” Augustine Njamnshi, board member of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, PACJA told PAMACC News in an interview.
“When laws are not implemented or are implemented selectively, then there is injustice, and this weakens the legal system in the country.”
Dr. Joseph ArmatheAmougou, the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change Focal Point for Cameroon admits that the non-respect of forestry laws has to a large extent weakened forest governance reforms.
“Cameroon is a state of law, and so for any forest governance reform to yield the expected results, the laws must strictly be respected,” he says.
Apart from the European Union imposed monitoring system, the country lacks a credible forest law enforcement mechanism, a situation that has continued to drive illegal logging and forest depletion.
Several control points have been set up on the route from the forest to the port city of Douala. But corruption means that tons of illegally felled timber still makes it to markets in Europe and Asia.
Timber is central in the country’s development agenda. In the last few years, Cameroon has invited multiple foreign investors in large-scale investment projects as the country drives towards economic growth.
Unfortunately, many of these investments and potential investment opportunities are nestled in the heart of the country’s productive forest spans. In many cases, the projects are not only breeding conflicts between investors and forest communities, but also fuelling illegal activities.
There is thus increasing environmental footprint of these foreign investors in Cameroon and government’s heavy reliance on them for funding of its multiple ongoing infrastructural projects has made the country vulnerable to illegal practices.
“In many instances, the government is helpless in dealing with cases of illegal logging by these foreign business operators,” says Samuel Nguifo, Executive Secretary of Center for Environment and Development.
With the country facing serious development challenges, there is a growing quest for and reliance on foreign capital, and it is thought this dependence has led to oversights on illegal activities especially in the exploitation of forest resources in Cameroon, Nguiffo explains.
A May 2016 World Bank/IMF report indicates that Cameroon has an accrued external debt of US$5,289 million and is ranked 10th among 42 African nations whose debt statistics were studied in 2016.
Experts see the dependence on foreign investors as a significant threat to the country’s willpower to strictly control illegal practices fueling corruption and poor governance in the forest and natural resource sector.
Like in Cameroon, sustainable management of forest resources has been perilous in many countries in the Congo Basin region. Environment experts argue scaled up support for governance reforms that need to be at the heart of government forest management programs are virtually absent.
Environment experts are worried that the growing illegal harvesting and trade of timber will have devastating impacts on the environment and contribute immensely to global warming which is currently threatening the Congo Basin and the world as a whole.
Thus, the promotion of sustainable forest management is imperative to create and preserve jobs and contribute to improving rural livelihoods, protect the environment, mitigating climate change, preserve biodiversity and above all reduce poverty, experts say.
External Pressure
Some European countries have urged Cameroon to reinforce its laws on forest exploitation and timber trade.
Cameroon was one of the main sources of tropical wood imports to the European Union in 2014, at around a fifth of the total, followed closely by Malaysia, according to EU data.
Britain recently imposed or warned of sanctions on 14 UK importers believed to be illegally sourcing wood from Cameroon, according to Greenpeace.
That followed a similar move by the Netherlands in early March 2016 demonstrating that timber from Cameroon is “coming under increasing scrutiny in international markets,” Greenpeace said.
“Cameroon’s authorities must examine this new set of sanctions and start investigating the companies in question as a first step to tackling the illegality and corruption in the timber sector,” said Eric Ini, Yaounde-based Forest campaigner for Greenpeace Africa.
In 2009, Cameroon appointed an independent observer, NGO Agreco-CEW, to oversee the allocation of forest concession. But its recommendations are not implemented, according to Samuel Nguiffo.
A May 2016 report from Greenpeace, for example, said Cameroon's timber exporter Compagnie de Commerce et de Transport (CCT) had sourced wood from La Socamba, a company logging several kilometers outside its designated area, which it sold in Europe and China.
CCT and its suppliers are now facing an audit, which has yet to be officially announced, Greenpeace said at the end of June.
Cameroon bows to pressure
In what looks like bowing to pressure from the European Union and forest governance stakeholders, Cameroon government has suspended 23 forest exploitation companies and two community interest groups (GICs) working in the logging sector for six months, a November 09, 2016 release by the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife stated.
The sanctions according to the Minister Philp NgoleNgwese, generally relate to the non-compliance with sustainable management standards such as breach of the terms of reference, the exploitation or fraudulent use of the forest resources.
The suspension, which involves “the immediate cessation of activities, will not be lifted until after the close of the litigation opened against the offenders, as well as the payment in full of the charges that will be levied against them,” the minister said in a statement.
Minister Ngole Philip Ngwese also threatened to withdraw the authorization in the event of non-lifting of the suspension due to the continuation of activities after notification of the measure or a new offense in the last 12 months following the infringement leading to suspension.
Officials of Etamfa Sarl and Entrepise Forestiere du Cameroon, two of the companies suspended for illegal logging refused to comment when approached by PAMACC News.
In a similar sanction in 2012, the Cameroon Treasury recovered the sum of CFAF 1 billion, compared to CFAF 100 million a year earlier, representing the fines imposed on operators for violations of logging regulations, statistics from the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife showed.
Intensified control measures
The government says it is working with other stakeholders to strengthen control measures against illegal logging. Among these measures is the increase of forest guards on checkpoints along the road from the East region through the South to the shipping port in Douala.
The Kadey Divisional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife, Bangya Dieudonne admits "illegal exploitation of wildlife and logging activities existed in the region but said the government was intensifying and renewing its strategies to combat the scourge.”
“The government is training and deploying more guards in the field to intensify control. Many youths here have received training to detect and report cases of illegal logging to us and the forces of law and order,” said Bangya.
Officials of FODER, an NGO in forest protection in the region that carried out the training also attest monitoring of illegal forest activities has intensified.
“Forest people, mostly youths have been trained and equipped as community observers to report what they see in logging activities to help save the forests. These residents are on the frontline of the fight against deforestation. We call them the rainforest defenders of Central Africa,” RodrigueNgonzo from FODER told PAMACC News.
He said the training provided communities and civil society with new tools to monitor changes in forest use and their environment so they can inform local authorities and the forces of law and order in real-time for prompt action.
According to officials of the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, empowering forest people, taking climate action and protecting forest resources are at the heart of changing the new narrative and putting government activities firmly on the path to sustainable development.
AnicetNgomin, Head of Monitoring, Regeneration, Reforestation and Woodland Extension Unit, in the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, pointed out that since the signing of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Ministry has embarked on assessing the gravity of illegal forest exploitation challenges and has intensified interaction with the concerned communities.
“Creating opportunities for an empowered people, capable of taking action and contributing to the protection their forest resources will certainly help in the fight against forest resource depletion,” Ngomin said.
BERTOUA, Cameroon (PAMACC News)—As night falls, scores of timber trucks line up at a weighing station outside the city center here, one of the last rituals before the long road trip to the port city of Douala, nearly 600km away.
Every day, trucks like these, with logs of timber stream through bumpy earth roads onto the highway at the dead of night; and head to Douala, from where they are shipped to foreign markets.
“The East region is very rich in timber,” says Andre Lepot, a resident in Batouri, a town that has become known for timber exploitation, more than anything else. “We have seen this happen since we were kids.”
Timber is Cameroon’s second most important export commodity after crude oil. In the past decades, logging has increased, attracting Chinese, Lebanese, French, and other foreign companies.
The country is one of the leading exporters of tropical timber to the European Union.
“We have observed a surge in timber trade activities with the increased presence of foreign timber business operators especially from China and Indonesia in the sector,” says Bernard Njonga, coordinator of the Local Development Initiatives Support Service, an NGO in Cameroon.
“Cameroon’s forest has continued to be logged to feed the country’s growing timber market.”
Logging in Cameroon is shrouded in illegality. Illegal timber exploitation is severe and getting worse in the country, say officials and environmental protection workers.
“Without being an expert, I can say that before exploiters fell only large trees,” says ZeVina, a resident of Ebolowa in the South region, another timber exploitation center. “But today we see timber of all dimensions transported away in trucks.”
Ze describes Cameroon's timber sector as anarchic. Both legal and illegal exploiters are involved in unlawful activities, particularly harvesting timber below the legal size, and outside designated concessions, he says.
Weak legal systems and deteriorating control mechanisms are fueling an unprecedented frenzy of illegal logging and wildlife trade that is fast depleting the nation's natural forest resources, PAMACC News found.
“Illegal forest exploitation and logging business in the country has been compounded by ineffective and discriminatory law enforcement,” says Njonga. “This betrays the sincerity of the government in forest governance reforms.”
In the East and South regions, vast expanses of forests now lay bare, one of the main consequences of rampant and illegal exploitation.
According to Global Forest Watch, an online forest monitoring platform, Cameroon lost 657,000 hectares of forest between 2001 and 2014, with the annual rate of loss rising over the period to around 141,000 hectares in 2014.
“The government does not respect its laws and many forest malpractices go unpunished,” Augustine Njamnshi, board member of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, PACJA told PAMACC News in an interview.
“When laws are not implemented or are implemented selectively, then there is injustice, and this weakens the legal system in the country.”
Dr. Joseph ArmatheAmougou, the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change Focal Point for Cameroon admits that the non-respect of forestry laws has to a large extent weakened forest governance reforms.
“Cameroon is a state of law, and so for any forest governance reform to yield the expected results, the laws must strictly be respected,” he says.
Apart from the European Union imposed monitoring system, the country lacks a credible forest law enforcement mechanism, a situation that has continued to drive illegal logging and forest depletion.
Several control points have been set up on the route from the forest to the port city of Douala. But corruption means that tons of illegally felled timber still makes it to markets in Europe and Asia.
Timber is central in the country’s development agenda. In the last few years, Cameroon has invited multiple foreign investors in large-scale investment projects as the country drives towards economic growth.
Unfortunately, many of these investments and potential investment opportunities are nestled in the heart of the country’s productive forest spans. In many cases, the projects are not only breeding conflicts between investors and forest communities, but also fuelling illegal activities.
There is thus increasing environmental footprint of these foreign investors in Cameroon and government’s heavy reliance on them for funding of its multiple ongoing infrastructural projects has made the country vulnerable to illegal practices.
“In many instances, the government is helpless in dealing with cases of illegal logging by these foreign business operators,” says Samuel Nguifo, Executive Secretary of Center for Environment and Development.
With the country facing serious development challenges, there is a growing quest for and reliance on foreign capital, and it is thought this dependence has led to oversights on illegal activities especially in the exploitation of forest resources in Cameroon, Nguiffo explains.
A May 2016 World Bank/IMF report indicates that Cameroon has an accrued external debt of US$5,289 million and is ranked 10th among 42 African nations whose debt statistics were studied in 2016.
Experts see the dependence on foreign investors as a significant threat to the country’s willpower to strictly control illegal practices fueling corruption and poor governance in the forest and natural resource sector.
Like in Cameroon, sustainable management of forest resources has been perilous in many countries in the Congo Basin region. Environment experts argue scaled up support for governance reforms that need to be at the heart of government forest management programs are virtually absent.
Environment experts are worried that the growing illegal harvesting and trade of timber will have devastating impacts on the environment and contribute immensely to global warming which is currently threatening the Congo Basin and the world as a whole.
Thus, the promotion of sustainable forest management is imperative to create and preserve jobs and contribute to improving rural livelihoods, protect the environment, mitigating climate change, preserve biodiversity and above all reduce poverty, experts say.
External Pressure
Some European countries have urged Cameroon to reinforce its laws on forest exploitation and timber trade.
Cameroon was one of the main sources of tropical wood imports to the European Union in 2014, at around a fifth of the total, followed closely by Malaysia, according to EU data.
Britain recently imposed or warned of sanctions on 14 UK importers believed to be illegally sourcing wood from Cameroon, according to Greenpeace.
That followed a similar move by the Netherlands in early March 2016 demonstrating that timber from Cameroon is “coming under increasing scrutiny in international markets,” Greenpeace said.
“Cameroon’s authorities must examine this new set of sanctions and start investigating the companies in question as a first step to tackling the illegality and corruption in the timber sector,” said Eric Ini, Yaounde-based Forest campaigner for Greenpeace Africa.
In 2009, Cameroon appointed an independent observer, NGO Agreco-CEW, to oversee the allocation of forest concession. But its recommendations are not implemented, according to Samuel Nguiffo.
A May 2016 report from Greenpeace, for example, said Cameroon's timber exporter Compagnie de Commerce et de Transport (CCT) had sourced wood from La Socamba, a company logging several kilometers outside its designated area, which it sold in Europe and China.
CCT and its suppliers are now facing an audit, which has yet to be officially announced, Greenpeace said at the end of June.
Cameroon bows to pressure
In what looks like bowing to pressure from the European Union and forest governance stakeholders, Cameroon government has suspended 23 forest exploitation companies and two community interest groups (GICs) working in the logging sector for six months, a November 09, 2016 release by the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife stated.
The sanctions according to the Minister Philp NgoleNgwese, generally relate to the non-compliance with sustainable management standards such as breach of the terms of reference, the exploitation or fraudulent use of the forest resources.
The suspension, which involves “the immediate cessation of activities, will not be lifted until after the close of the litigation opened against the offenders, as well as the payment in full of the charges that will be levied against them,” the minister said in a statement.
Minister Ngole Philip Ngwese also threatened to withdraw the authorization in the event of non-lifting of the suspension due to the continuation of activities after notification of the measure or a new offense in the last 12 months following the infringement leading to suspension.
Officials of Etamfa Sarl and Entrepise Forestiere du Cameroon, two of the companies suspended for illegal logging refused to comment when approached by PAMACC News.
In a similar sanction in 2012, the Cameroon Treasury recovered the sum of CFAF 1 billion, compared to CFAF 100 million a year earlier, representing the fines imposed on operators for violations of logging regulations, statistics from the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife showed.
Intensified control measures
The government says it is working with other stakeholders to strengthen control measures against illegal logging. Among these measures is the increase of forest guards on checkpoints along the road from the East region through the South to the shipping port in Douala.
The Kadey Divisional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife, Bangya Dieudonne admits "illegal exploitation of wildlife and logging activities existed in the region but said the government was intensifying and renewing its strategies to combat the scourge.”
“The government is training and deploying more guards in the field to intensify control. Many youths here have received training to detect and report cases of illegal logging to us and the forces of law and order,” said Bangya.
Officials of FODER, an NGO in forest protection in the region that carried out the training also attest monitoring of illegal forest activities has intensified.
“Forest people, mostly youths have been trained and equipped as community observers to report what they see in logging activities to help save the forests. These residents are on the frontline of the fight against deforestation. We call them the rainforest defenders of Central Africa,” RodrigueNgonzo from FODER told PAMACC News.
He said the training provided communities and civil society with new tools to monitor changes in forest use and their environment so they can inform local authorities and the forces of law and order in real-time for prompt action.
According to officials of the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, empowering forest people, taking climate action and protecting forest resources are at the heart of changing the new narrative and putting government activities firmly on the path to sustainable development.
AnicetNgomin, Head of Monitoring, Regeneration, Reforestation and Woodland Extension Unit, in the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, pointed out that since the signing of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Ministry has embarked on assessing the gravity of illegal forest exploitation challenges and has intensified interaction with the concerned communities.
“Creating opportunities for an empowered people, capable of taking action and contributing to the protection their forest resources will certainly help in the fight against forest resource depletion,” Ngomin said.
NYERI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Although she struggles to make her economic stake as a housewife, Louise Nyawira is beginning to count herself a winner.
The mother of two, who operates a cook stoves making stand at Kangemi estate on the fringes of Nyeri town, is among hundreds in Kenya who are making business out of the kitchen.
For every switch a mother makes from the traditional three stones cooking set up to the energy saving cook stove here, there will be more clanging at Nyawira’s yard.
“There is high demand for the energy cook stoves because they use less firewood or charcoal,” explains Nyawira.
It is easy to see why. At her tin smith yard, the floor is littered with cut metal sheets. A basin at one end is half full with paste cement and clay. It is the assembling of these that have resulted to the waist high pile of newly made cook stoves at another end.
“All these are for servicing an order of 30 cook stoves that we must deliver to a customer today,” beams her husband, Philip Njau, who makes the cook stoves, while Nyawira delivers them.
Nyawira says customers place orders from as far as neighbouring Counties, for as much a $ 100 in a day.
Lately, the couple is planning to hire a tin smith to assist them in making the cook stoves, to meet the high demand.
Creating business out of clean energy solutions is an emerging niche that is pulling Kenyan women like Nyawira from the kitchen to the wealth creation ring.
With the income she receives from the cook stove making venture, she is able to meet basic expenses like paying school fees for her two children, and buying food.
“The good return the business is making has even bonded me closer with my husband,” she says. “We are able to sit down and plan for our family and how to make the business better.”
The successful adoption of clean cooking technologies ‘is evidence that poor people are willing, able and indeed often keen, to pay market prices for energy services’, argues the 2016 poor people’s energy outlook report by Practical Action.
However, they are unable to afford the full cost of the higher levels of access which would fully meet their needs, adds the report.
For instance, the report says, over 84 per cent of Kenyans rely on biomass as their primary energy source for cooking and heating, with firewood contributing 69 per cent and charcoal 13 per cent of this figure.
But resources like firewood are diminishing, forcing mothers like Margaret Wanjugu to make a one kilometer journey to buy it from the nearest retailer from her home in Solio village, central Kenya.
“There is no firewood,” says Wanjugu, indicating that the resource is on the decline at the nearby forest which the community there has been relying for fuel.
Even for those who dare make the 10 kilometer walk to comb for dry twigs at the Gathorongai forest floor, the journey is replete with danger.
Stray wild animals like elephants send the mothers scampering for their safety, while some live with the pain of being raped by human stalkers living in the forest.
“This is why I prefer to spend at least two dollars to buy firewood,” says Wanjugu, adding that these can last even two months.
However, this was after Wanjugu acquired an energy saving cook stove, which she came to know about after meeting the Sustainable Community Development Services (SCODE) officials.
There is an economic benefit too. These days, she uses the time used to collect firewood from the forest to herd her goats, do some farming, or even take a leisure walk to Nyeri town.
“The idea is to ensure women economic empowerment through energy enterprises as way of meeting the SDG on energy that Kenya is a signatory to,” explains Practical Action programme manager, Lydia Muchiri.
The Women in Energy Enterprises in Kenya (WEEK) project, says Muchiri, aims to reach 730 small scale women energy entrepreneurs in Kenya.
By her estimation, their empowerment can benefit some 364,200 Kenyans, including institutions, where 450 jobs will be created by women enterprises in the project areas, including Rift Valley, Western and Nairobi regions.
Such a hopeful outlook seems to impress Lilian Njeri, who is a volunteer at Imarisha (to make better) Community Based Organization (CBO) in central Kenya.
“We create business opportunities for mothers because there is high demand for charcoal briquettes by farmers who do chicken farming,” says Winnie Kamau, who has been training Njeri at the CBO.
The farmers use the briquettes for indoor warming because the product does not emit noxious fumes, she adds.
“Energy enterprises have better returns for poor because every household must cook every day,” argues James Mwangi, a technology mentor at SCODE and coordinator of WEEK in central Kenya.
SCODE is promoting improved cook stove, charcoal briquettes and solar technologies in Kenya, he says.
NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) – As Kenyans brace for another bout with drought, a new study released in Nairobi found that local agrodealers could play a pivotal role in helping farmers adapt to climate change.
The study established that agrodealers assistance is severely limited by a shortage of certified crop seed stocks and financing options.
Kenya Markets Trust, through its implementing partner in crop seed, Agri Experience, commissioned a study to interview 438 agro-dealers across eight counties.
The study, which was carried out by Bayesian Consulting Group, found farmer demand for certified seed regularly exhausted stocks at the agro-dealer shops, particularly for non-maize seed. The lack of seed for crops other than maize impedes efforts to fight climate change through crop diversification.
"What this report shows is that as growing conditions become more challenging, the fight for food security in Kenya may be won or lost with rural agro-dealers," said Anastasia Mbatia, a seed distribution specialist at Agri Experience. "While we are glad to hear farmer demand for certified seed is rising rapidly, it is frustrating to learn that many agro-dealers lack both the quantity and variety of seeds Kenyan farmers need to avoid drought-induced devastation."
For example, 51 per cent of the agro-dealers interviewed said they cannot keep up with farmer demand for certified seed. Meanwhile, 18 per cent lack the financing to increase stocks, even though potential sales would easily cover the credit. Moreover, agro-dealers often lacked certified seed for crops other than maize. As many agriculture experts note, improved varieties of crops like beans, sorghum and millet would be far better choices than maize when climate forecasts like those for early 2017 warn of unreliable rains.
"It's frustrating that crop breeders have developed varieties that could protect Kenyan farmers from drought, yet too often seeds for these crops simply are not easily accessible for farmers," said Noel Templer, a research manager at Agri Experience.
He added, "But at least we have a strong network of agro-dealers in Kenya that appears receptive to expanding its seed offerings. What agrodealers need is the financial support and the seed quantities to help them do it."
The analysts travelled to 438 rural agro-dealerships in eight counties spanning various regions of the country, namely: Murang'a (Central), Taita-Taveta (Coast); Meru (Upper Eastern); Nakuru (Central Rift), Kericho (South Rift); Trans-Nzoia (North Rift); Bungoma (Western) and Kisii (Nyanza).
They surveyed agro-dealers about a wide range of issues that affected their businesses, including education levels, supplier relationships, gender, business costs, sales trends, and use of information and communications technology.
The analysts found that over 80 per cent of Kenya's agro-dealership owners have a college, graduate or post graduate level education. Therefore, they have the expertise to steer farmers to seed and inputs that can help them adapt to shifts in growing conditions. About 76 per cent of the agro-dealers said they work to educate farmers about both seed choices and farming practices that can boost yields.
A key positive finding from the study is that between 2014 and 2015, agrodealers posted an 85 per cent increase in the volume of maize seed they stocked and another 27 per cent jump in the 2016 long rains season. That's important, because maize harvests in Kenya, which average about 1.6 metric tons per hectare, lag far behind the global average of 5.6 metric tons. Wider use of certified seed for improved maize varieties is viewed as essential to closing this chronic "yield gap."
"This intense demand for high quality certified seed justifies extending affordable credit to agro-dealers to boost their inventory," said Templer. "In this study, financing for agrodealers emerged as a major barrier to offering farmers a wider menu of seed choices."
For example, while all of the agro-dealers said they carried maize seed, only 42 per cent stocked bean seeds, 16 per cent stocked sorghum, 10 per cent carried finger millet, and 4 per cent offered seed for green grams and cowpeas. The study authors saw these numbers as further evidence that Kenya's farmers are over-reliant on maize, which often performs poorly in drought relative to other crops.
"It's time to reduce the dominance of maize on Kenyan farms and in Kenyan diets and to do that, farmers need access to a much wider range of quality seeds for crops like beans and cowpeas," said Julius Kamau, an agro-dealer at Juja Agrovet in Embu County.
He added, "Seed producers can help by working with agro-dealers to establish demonstration plots that can showcase the superior performance of certified seeds for an array of crops."
The study notes that lack of a wider assortment of seeds at local agro-dealers is also an indication that many farmers continue to obtain seed through informal channels.
For example, they save seed from a previous year's crop or obtain it from a neighboring farm or local farmer's market, and often recycle it for very long periods of time without refreshing it. In fact, despite growing demand for certified seeds from commercial producers, about 78 per cent of all seed planted in Kenya still comes via informal channels.
Other key findings of the study are that agro-dealerships offer important opportunities for young people (under the age of 35), who were found to own just over 70 per cent of stockist businesses, while accounting for 29 per cent of wholesale agro-dealerships and on average, more than half of the agro-dealers' customers for seed were women.
Another finding is that despite the benefits of technology to improve their businesses, agro-dealers' use of information and communications technology (ICT) for business management is limited, with 66 per cent saying they do not use ICT tools. The report recommends that ICT should be promoted more among agro-dealers, and note that there is an opportunity to develop new, affordable tools for the agri-business sector.
The results of this study, including its recommendations, are expected to help guide both public and private sector organisations as they seek to enhance the role of agro-dealers in Kenya's agriculture industry, with the aim of reinforcing the formal seed system and expanding the adoption of improved crop seed varieties.
