Deployment of combined technologies to smallholder farmers in Kenya: <i>TAAT Clearinghouse technical report series 002</i>
Creators: name: TAAT Program
name: Woomer, Paul
name: Mpoko Bokanga
name: Welissa Mulei
Publisher: name: Gates Open Research
Year: 2021

description: The developmental objective of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) Program is to rapidly expand access of smallholder farmers to high yielding agricultural technologies that improve their food production, assure food security, and raise rural incomes. This goal is achieved by delivering regional public goods for rapidly scaling up agricultural technologies across similar agro-ecological zones. This result is achieved through three principal mechanisms; (i) creating an enabling environment for technology adoption by farmers, (ii) facilitating effective delivery of these technologies to farmers through a structured Regional Technology Delivery Infrastructure and (iii) raising agricultural production and productivity through strategic interventions that include improved crop varieties and animal breeds, accompanying good management practices and vigorous farmer outreach campaigns at the Regional Member Country (RMC) level. The important roles of sound policies, empowering women, and youth, strengthening extension systems, and engaging with the private sector are implicit within this strategy.<br> <br> The TAAT Clearinghouse is the body within the TAAT Program that decides which technologies should be disseminated. Moreover, it is tasked with the responsibility to guide the deployment of proven agricultural technologies to scale in a commercially sustainable fashion through the establishment of partnerships that provide access to expertise required to design, implement, and monitor the progress of technology dissemination campaigns. In this way, the Clearinghouse is essentially an agricultural transformation Incubation platform, aimed at facilitating partnerships and strengthening national agricultural development programs to reach millions of farmers with appropriate agricultural technologies.<br> <br> The TAAT Clearinghouse authorized a Technical Mission in 2018 to develop and advance technology toolkits in Kenya. This was borne of the recognition that TAAT is expected to develop "Quick Wins" during Year 1 and owing to delays in project launch, only the East African August-to-December "short rains" remained in 2018 for a complete cycle of technology deployment and assessment. Kenya was selected for this action because several Value Chain Compact Leaders are located there, and most of their accompanying technologies are commercially available in Kenya. This technology intervention focuses upon six Quick Win opportunities: Modernized maize and bean production in western Kenya. Promotion of dryland production technologies in eastern Kenya. Fall Army Worm Rapid Response in Kenya as a profitable contract service. Establishing poultry and goat fattening enterprises by Youth Agripreneurs. Entry point participation of youth in the Vihiga County Fish Park in west Kenya; and Development of the RFC-ROOT (5-13-21++) fertilizer blend in conjunction with MEA Fertilizers Ltd. (Kenya). This Clearinghouse Mission directly contributes to the goals of TAAT, serving as an early proof of concept of working with the private sector to design specific technology products for smallholder farmers, and illustrates how the Program offers tremendous potential to modernize agriculture in a transformative manner. This Quick Win approach links several technologies that effectively respond to the needs of smallholder farmers and opens participation of local extension agents and private sector input manufacturers and suppliers, thus offering a viable pathway to achieve rapid impacts from technology dissemination to smallholder farmers. One of its strengths is that it creates a network of champions who are instrumental in the deployment of technologies.<br> <br> This model relies upon toolkits being included within larger technology outreach agendas and readily accommodates private sector participation based upon their business interests. In this case, “National System Champion” may refer to parties beyond national governments such as local and private extension mechanisms (as with Quick Wins 1 and 3), the private sector (as with Quick Wins 1, 3, 5, and 6), or existing NGO, farmer, and youth groups (as with Quick Wins 2, 4, and 5).<br> <br> <b>Some early results and lessons learned emerged:</b> A technology toolkit to modernize maize and bean production is available from commercial<br> sources in Kenya and may be assembled on agro-dealer shelves. This toolkit costs about $230 per ha and provides approximately four-fold investment returns. Several agro-dealers that were provided products embodying maize-bean technology toolkits, and were expected to test market them, instead chose to bundle and extend them to trusted customers on credit. A database of the participating farmers was compiled but cannot be interpreted until the harvest of the short rain crops and repayment is completed. This approach appears to have generated significant interest among local farming communities as evidenced by the large turnout at “last mile” agro-dealer open houses. Promoting toolkits in dryland areas poses risks of poor rains as has occurred in eastern Kenya. Evaluation of DTMA maize var. 1101 during east Kenya short rains were limited by the very late arrival of the rains as farmers typically await these rains before planting into moist soil. However, it was observed that this variety offers potential during the short rains in the drought-prone Lake Victoria Basin, including within complex intercropping systems. Enterprise opportunities based upon the Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato are becoming realized. Revenues are raised from both marketing vine cuttings and tubers. Three droughts tolerant OFSP varieties were recently released in Kenya and ENABLE TAAT youth are taking the lead in their popularization and availability. Technologies related to vegetable production may readily be applied to the production of virus-free OFSP cuttings. The skills developed by youth to construct cost-cutting, tent-style screen houses, and advanced irrigation systems are also marketable. The Fall Army Worm Rapid Response provides valuable services to farming communities threatened by this biological invasion. Contract services consisting of approved insecticides, power sprayers, and safety equipment costs an average of $28 per ha offering increased yields of about 225 kg maize per ha, but clients usually elect to protect much smaller areas. FAW Rapid Response should become incorporated into the larger FAW Compact, particularly for providing protection against worms when the protective effect of Fortenza Duo seed treatment is over after a few weeks. Youth groups are ready clients for improved small livestock and fish production enterprises, and they have the necessary skill sets to adopt the technologies being offered through TAAT. In many cases, youth can renovate and restore production to failed businesses and development projects. Other Compacts appear ready to buy into this advantage. All the technologies needed for animal and fish production are commercially available, but the high cost of poultry and fish feed remains a challenge. An established fertilizer company in Kenya readily agreed to partner in the production of a specialized fertilizer blend for root crops. This blend addresses the lack of potassium, a nutrient needed for root crop development, but also contains adjusted amounts of six other nutrients. RFC-ROOT will be included within the widely-recognized MEA Fertilizers Ltd. product line of blended fertilizers early in 2019. Women are well represented within these Quick Wins. For example, women form 52% of the participants in technology toolkit open houses, 58% of the subscribing clients in Win 1, 54% of farmers contracting FAW Rapid Response services, and 44% of the larger Kenya Quick Wins team. A quick route of success involves empowering champions as they emerge and working with them in an iterative problem-solving manner without preconceptions and overly formalized procedures. These six different Quick Wins have several important elements in common. While they directly relate to the Clearinghouse responsibilities within TAAT to guide technology deployment, they also involve several TAAT Compacts led by IITA, AATF, CIAT, CIP, and ILRI. These CGIAR partners are clustered in Nairobi and all have bought into this effort in one way or another. This Technical Mission capitalizes upon the newly formed Clearinghouse Liaison Office formed in Nairobi as well. The Clearinghouse was able to rapidly identify several promising opportunities via the Technology Toolkit approach (see <b><i>TAAT Technology Toolkits and their Strategic Deployment; TAAT Clearinghouse Technical Report Series 001).</i></b><br> <br> Read more about TAAT here:<b><i> </i></b>Taat-Africa – Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation