Kenya’s agricultural sector has undergone various changes emanating from
policy reforms over the years. These reforms, which occurred from the late
1980s to the early 1990s, were aimed at reducing government involvement in
economic activity and allowing the economy to move towards a free market.
Policy reforms covered monetary, fiscal and trade aspects and liberalization of
the agricultural sector. This study analyses the impact of specific reforms on
agricultural production, performance and trade, and therefore food security.
The study uses secondary data from the Central Bureau of Statistics and the
Ministry of Agriculture. Welfare Monitoring Surveys of 1982, 1992 and 1997
were used as sources of regional cross-sectional household data. Trends in
production and trade are analysed, the impact of policy instruments such as
prices and market access explained, household incomes and expenditures
estimated, and food security trends are analysed using various indicators for
both the pre- and post-reforms periods.
The analysis indicates that agricultural prices and production have generally
declined. The performance of the agricultural sector in the 1990s was dismal,
with annual growth in agricultural GDP averaging 2% compared with 4% in
the 1980s. Agricultural export growth after the reforms has shown mixed trends
due to market access limitations for Kenyan exports. Market access for imports
into the Kenyan market has improved since the reforms, occasioning tremendous
import growth. However, the capacity to import food has declined, making the
country more food insecure. The balance of trade between Kenya and the rest
of the world has worsened against Kenya. After the reforms the country moved
from broad self-sufficiency in production of most food staples to a net importer.
The sources of food security for rural people are subsistence food production
and purchases using farm or off-farm income, with a third of households
receiving remittances. The linkage between the performance of the agricultural
sector and household incomes indicates that when the performance of the sector
is poor, household incomes are low. In the light of these challenges, the country
needs to reconsider increasing the use of domestic support measures allowed
within the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on agriculture to
allow adequate development of the sector. However, implementation of
liberalized policies should be harmonized and coordinated to avoid adverse
effects on the sector.