SOIL HEALTH STATUS AND CHALLENGES FOR IMPROVING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY IN KENYA

1. SOIL HEALTH STATUS AND CHALLENGES FOR IMPROVING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY IN KENYA Anthony O. Esilaba

2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE • AGRICULTURE IN KENYA • AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONES IN KENYA • MAJOR SOILS IN KENYA • LAND DEGRADATION • FACTORS CAUSING LOW AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY • PAST RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT • FERTILIZER TRIALS IN KENYA • ROLE OF AGRO-DEALERS/PRIVATE SECTOR • POTENTIAL FOR LOCAL/REGIONAL MANUFACTURING AND BULK BLENDING

3. PRESENTATION OUTLINE • STATUS OF FERTILIZER INFORMATION • HUMAN CAPACITY AVAILABLE AND NEEDS FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT • GOVERNMENT POLICY ON SOIL FERTILITY MANAGEMENT • MAJOR CHALLENGES • OPPORTUNITIES • PROPOSED SOILS STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONS • CONCLUSIONS

4. AGRICULTURE IN KENYA • Kenya depends largely on agriculture and the new “Vision for African Agricultural Research” developed by FARA and its member organizations calls for an annual growth rate of 6% in agricultural productivity by 2020 in order to achieve sustainable development in general (FARA, 2003).

5. AGRICULTURE IN KENYA • Agriculture contributes directly to 26 % of the (GDP) and indirectly 60 % of the export earnings. • Agricultural growth and development is crucial to overall economic and social development • persistent decline in agricultural growth since the 1980s • leading to low crop productivity, chronic food shortages and rising poverty levels • Main cause is the low inherent soil fertility combined with inappropriate soil management practices (tenure, sub-division)

6. AGRICULTURE IN KENYA To feed Kenya’s growing population (4 0 million) will require: • intensification of agricultural production in the medium and high rainfall areas (25%) under rain fed conditions • expansion of irrigation in the lower rainfall areas (75%) (fragile ecosystems, resource use conflicts, inappropriate technologies) • Soil specific technologies for agricultural intensification have to be developed/fine tuned and adopted

7. AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONES IN KENYA • A large proportion of Kenya receives less than 500 mm of rainfall per year while some high and medium potential areas receive over 1,000 mm of rain per year. • There are four major agro-ecological zones on the basis of the length of growing period (LGP).

8. AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONES IN KENYA

9. AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONES IN KENYA

10. MAJOR SOILS IN KENYA

11. MAJOR SOIL TYPES IN KENYA

12. LAND DEGRADATION • Land degradation is a severe problem in the Kenya • Soil fertility degradation has been identified as the single most important constraint to food security in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) • Restoration of soil productivity is a major challenge to national governments, regional bodies, research, development and donor communities (Sanchez, 2002).

13. AREAS OF MAJOR CONCERN FOR SOIL DEGRADATION.

14. LAND AND BIODIVERSITYDEGRADATION 14

15. DEGRADED RANGELANDS IN KENYA 15

16. FACTORS CAUSING LOW AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY Key factors causing low agricultural productivity, widespread poverty and food insecurity in Kenya include • soil erosion caused by cultivation on steeply sloping terrain • mining of soil fertility through continuous cultivation with limited application of inorganic or organic sources of soil nutrients • deforestation and overgrazing of rangelands • insufficient nutrient replacement

17. FACTORS CAUSING LOW AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY • Assessments of nutrient stocks and nutrient flow studies in the region have shown large negative balances for major nutrients in many locations and farming systems • N, P, and K balances for 13 countries in SSA had negative trend with about 200 million ha of cropland having lost 660 kg N ha-1, 75 kg P ha-1 and 450 kg K ha-1 in the last 30 years with high to very high depletion rates in ECA • Use of fertilizer in the region is among the lowest in the world, with average applications of only 9 kg per ha

18. FERTILIZER USE IN SELECTED COUNTRIES (KG/HA)

19. FACTORS CAUSING LOW AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY • Extensive areas of salt-affected soils exist in Kenya, especially in irrigation projects. • These soils require reclamation to enhance productivity. • Large areas of Kenya in the region also have Vertisols. These soils are inherently fertile but have poor drainage and workability problems. • Minimizing these constraints would enhance soil productivity.

20. PAST RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT • Past research has generated soil fertility technologies with potential for increasing rural incomes and food production. • However, uptake and utilization of these technologies has been low

21. SOIL TECHNOLOGIES FOR AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION These technologies address the issues of: (i) enhancing soil structure (ii) increasing NUE efficiency thro’ INM and strengthening nutrient cycling mechanisms (iii) conserving soil and water through residue management and adoption of conservation agriculture (iv) improving WUE thro’ development and adoption of efficient methods of water harvesting, recycling and irrigation and (v) increasing cropping intensity.

22. AVAILABLE SOIL FERTILITY RESTORATION TECHNOLOGIES READY FOR SCALING-UP Various technologies/strategies have been developed from various national and regional studies: Liming: results from the long-term trial conclusively demonstrated the need for the soil liming in the high and medium rainfall areas INMoptions / strategies: -different trts tested in the long-term trial all significantly increased average maize yields compared to the control - fortified compost (with Rock phosphates) - half rates of chemical ferts. + manures

23. AVAILABLE SOIL FERTILITY RESTORATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR SCALING-UP Green manure: Legume Research project – evaluated green manure covers crops for areas from the coast to highlands • The on-going SLM project coordinated by the MoA has chosen one strategy from the long-term trial, i.e. the integrated chemical fertilizers 60 N + 23 P kg ha-1 + 5 t manure ha-1 + crop residues, for validation and upscaling in medium/high rainfall areas

24. FERTILIZER TRIALS IN KENYA • Results of fertilizer trials conducted in Kenya show that: • N and P were deficient in 57% and 26% of the sites, respectively • Many farmers are aware of declining productivity & soil nutrient depletion & need to improve the situation (use of fertilizers, manures, composts, fallows ..) • Most of the farmers do not utilize inorganic fertilizers to replenish soil fertility due to socio-economic constraints

25. FERTILIZER TRIALS IN KENYA • Fertilizer Use Research Project (FURP) (early 90s) exhibited profitability of N, P, K and manure use in various sites • Maize responded positively to manure application in 14 out of 35 sites and to inorganic K application in 8 out of 35 sites. • Results from the 32 year old long term trial (LTT) at KARI-Kabete has demonstrated yield responses to inorganic and organic fertilizers • Continuous application of nitrogen (120 kg ha-1) and phosphorus (52 kg ha-1) increased maize yields by up to 2 times over a 32-year period.

26. FERTILIZER RECOMMENDATIONS AND USE IN KENYA

27. SUMMARY OF FOOD CROPS RESPONSES TO P APPLICATION IN VARIOUS FURP TRIAL SITES IN KENYA, 1985 TO 1994

28. MAIZE YIELDS IN THE KABETE LONG-TERM TRIAL AFTER CONTINUOUS CROPPING FOR 32 YEARS

29. ROLE OF AGRO-DEALERS/PRIVATE SECTOR To improve food security and achieve desired growth there is need to put in a public-private partnership framework that will • raise awareness of technologies and inputs; • improve their use efficiency; • lower transactions of supplying inputs; • improve linkages between importers, wholesalers and retailers and • improve economies of scale in marketing of inputs at wholesale and retail levels.

30. ROLE OF AGRO-DEALERS/PRIVATE SECTOR Fertilizer use increased dramatically following the liberalization of fertilizer marketing in the 1990s (Tegemeo Institute, 2006) • Fertilizer use rose by 35% over a 10-year period from 1995 to 2004 (results of survey> 1,000 smallholder farmers) • Total consumption mean/yr • 180,000 t/yr in the 1980s to 250,000 t/yr in the 1990s and to over 350,000 t/yr in the 2004/5 period.

31. ROLE OF AGRO-DEALERS/PRIVATE SECTOR This expanded fertilizer growth is mainly attributed to several factors including: • A relatively stable fertilizer policy (elimination of retail price controls, import licensing quotas, foreign exchange controls and phase-out of external fertilizer donation programs since 1990) which has attracted over 10 importers, 500 wholesalers and 7,000 retailers • Increased network of fertilizer retailers in rural areas (expanding small farmers’ access to fertilizer, reduced transaction costs, - and increased the profitability of using fertilizer) • Intense competition in importing and wholesaling • Relative profitability of the hort. market (96% of hort. sales is for the domestic market) thereby raising farmers’ incentives to fertilize maize intercropped with horticultural crops.

32. POTENTIAL FOR LOCAL/REGIONAL MANUFACTURING AND BULK BLENDING Most fertilizers used in the country are imported with the exception of single super phosphate (SSP) which is manufactured in the country by KEL Chemicals in Thika. • Results from an economic survey showed a 3-fold increase over the period 1995 to 2005 • The greatest increase was in non-nitrogenous and non-phosphatic fertilizers (containing micronutrients which are especially important for the flower, tea, coffee and horticulture sector)

33. TYPES AND QUANTITIES OF FERTILIZER USED IN KENYA (MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, 2006)

34. POTENTIAL FOR LOCAL/REGIONAL MANUFACTURING AND BULK BLENDING • Lately, noted interest in the marketing of raw Minjingu phosphate rock (MPR) from Tanzania but without adequate research support. • Potassium has also been noted as an emerging limiting nutrient under continuous cropping due to nutrient mining as a result of continuous cultivation with no fallow period or balanced fertilization. • Potassium studies in western Kenya created a need for NPK fertilizers leading one company to produce a NPK blended fertilizer for sale specifically in Kenya.

35. STATUS OF FERTILIZER INFORMATION • Scarcity of data on the fertilizer use and demand by smallholders (therefore difficult to assess how much fertilizer is used by small scale farmers compared to commercial farmers) • Kenya is currently using an average of 31 kg of fertilizer (better than most of the other SSA countries?) not clear how it is partitioned between smallholders and commercial farmers • e.g. there is little information to show how much of the fertilizer is used in crop production systems compared to what is used in the cut flower production, which is mainly for export

36. HUMAN CAPACITY AVAILABLE AND NEEDS FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT • The national human capacity involved in soil health is who are at different levels of education (diploma to postgraduate level) in agriculture are limited to KARI & Universities with few NGOs focusing on soil health • Others: development sectors (Ministries of Agriculture and Environment) as well as locally based international Centres • need to raise the capacity of local scientists to cope with rising food insecurity and environmental issues and also sensitize farmers on available technologies. • The capacity for research facilities (soil labs, equipments) should be enhanced to offer timely and cheap services to the farming community

37. GOVERNMENT POLICY ON SOIL FERTILITY MANAGEMENT • Kenya has developed a policy document that was presented to the Government in 2006. • The document identifies causes of soil fertility decline and emerging challenges • provides guidelines on the way forward for the restoration and maintenance of soil fertility for sustained agricultural production • It is also designed to encourage stakeholders to collaborate, access factors of production and apply best management practices • But the document has not yet been debated and passed by Parliament

38. MAJOR CHALLENGES • How to reverse degradation of soil through the development of integrated and sustainable practices for managing soil, soil water and nutrients • How to enhance adoption of best-bet integrated soil fertility management technologies • How to build the capacities of researchers, extension officers, farmers and other stakeholders to package and disseminate ISFM knowledge, information and technologies

39. OPPORTUNITIES • Update soil resource data bases to facilitate specific management decisions at farm, national and sub-regional levels • Develop, validate and disseminate improved ISFM packages • Enhance decision-support systems based on improved knowledge and information management practices for different soil types with focus on problematic soils such as acid soils, salt affected soils and Vertisols.

40. PROPOSED SOILS STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONS • Promoting utilization of integrated soil fertility management technologies for major food and high value crops • Management of problematic soils for improving agricultural productivity • Management of cropping and conservation tillage systems

41. IMPROVED LAND, NUTRIENT AND WATER MANAGEMENT

42. UP-SCALING WATER HARVESTING AND INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES 42

43. CONCLUSIONS • Agriculture the backbone of economy but lacks political good will (funding, policies (land, fertilizer ) • Institutions to undertake research adequate but require enhancement of capacity (human and infrastructure) • A number of proven technologies available – but need to develop others geared to agricultural intensification • Information on soil health scattered in the various institutions • Poor uptake of technologies/recommendations by farmers? - innovativeness • Farmers generally aware of need to replenish the soils but are hampered by socioeconomic constraints • Role of private sector critical in delivery of inputs

44. THANK YOU 44