Project Objectives
The objective of the Project is to assist the Recipient to increase access to agricultural inputs and technologies among targeted smallholder farmers. This improved farmer access is expected to contribute to higher yields, household food self-sufficiency and the generation of surpluses for sale, as well as reduced gap between domestic production and consumption in 2010 and 2011. The support will also contribute towards promotion and diversification to other food crops other than maize.
Project Description
The Project will have three main components, which will support smallholder access to agricultural inputs, these components are:
Component One: Up-scaling the existing Kilimo Biashara Agricultural Credit Program. The Project will build on the partnership already established between the Government of Kenya (GoK), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and Equity Bank to leverage additional credit and scale up loans to farmers. The overall strategy is to leverage financial institutions resources through a 10 percent guarantee fund on the basis of which Equity Bank and other financial institutions will develop appropriate financial products and provide credit facilities to smallholder farmers, agro-input dealers and other value chain players in the agricultural sector.
Component Two: Up scaling the existing Input Voucher Scheme (Kilimo Bora) in 84 selected districts through the Government's National Accelerated Agricultural Inputs Access Program (NAAIAP) program. The Kilimo Plus approach targets the poorest smallholders operating on 1 ha and less. The Kilimo Plus Program is designed as a voucher scheme to enable smallholder farmers to access 10 kg hybrid seed, 50 kg basal fertilizer and 50 kg top-dressing fertilizer for their privately owned farms. These inputs are sufficient for approximately 1 acre (0.4 ha) of maize. The Project will support an additional 150,000 farmers in the next two years.
Component Three: Up-scaling of the Orphan Crop Program at a cost of Euro 3.0 million. This component would focus on supplying planting materials of orphan crops to smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas. This will involve promoting farmer involvement in seed bulking and multiplication of orphan and other crops, including sorghum, cassava and millet. The proposed program will involve production of about 1,500 metric tonnes of seeds and other planting materials for distribution to 100 districts spread across all the provinces. This will directly benefit about 500,000 households in the next one and half years.
