Egerton University has rolled out an initiative to encourage adoption of mechanized farming among youthful smallholder farmers in a bid to enhance food production and quality of farm produce in the country.
The university has entered into a partnership with the Corporation for Africa and Overseas (CFAO)-Kenya to help strengthen mechanized agriculture training, innovation, and technology transfer to be implemented through the university’s Department of Agricultural Engineering.
Vice Chancellor (VC), Professor Isaac Kibwage, said the University was also crafting public-private partnerships to encourage the setting up of mechanization hubs, which will also link providers of mechanized farm services with youthful small-holder farmers, who do not have agricultural machinery.
Professor Kibwage said the partnership with CFAO-Kenya, which was formalized through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), was expected to boost agricultural productivity, enhance practical training for students, and improve access to efficient farming solutions for Kenyan farmers.
The VC described the partnership as a significant step towards strengthening innovation and research in agriculture, adding that the venture will bridge the gap between academic training and industry needs.
CFAO-Kenya is a subsidiary of the French-based CFAO Group, which is owned by Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corporation. The company is one of the largest automotive distributors and service providers in Kenya.
Professor Kibwage disclosed that the firm had donated two tractor engines to the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering towards enhancing practical training and boosting technical capacity among students, adding that the partnership aligns with the competency-based curriculum.
CFAO, the VC added, had so far facilitated the training of more than 700 tractor operators in the region, adding that the move was aimed at giving youth farmers opportunities to embrace better mechanized food production to increase yields in addition to making farming attractive to the younger generation.
“We envision a situation where small holder youth farmers have access to subsidized mechanization, which will in turn help reduce over reliance on human labor, which is not economical,” stated the Vice Chancellor.
Professor Kibwage indicated that the initiative aligns with BETA’s commitment to increasing agricultural productivity and expanding economic opportunities for grassroots communities.
He added that by empowering youth and women in small-scale farming with access to mechanized farming techniques, Egerton University was working to bolster Kenya’s food security and stimulate rural economies through practical skill development.
The collaboration will include joint training programs, a three (3) year apprenticeship program for students, internships and attachments for graduates, and research projects and pilot initiatives by students aimed at demonstrating the benefits of mechanized farming.
The Vice Chancellor indicated that by leveraging CFAO-Kenya’s expertise in agricultural machinery and Egerton University’s research and training capabilities, the partnership aims to equip farmers with affordable, efficient mechanization solutions that can boost yields, reduce labor burdens, and improve food security in Kenya.
Professor Kibwage was happy that technological advancements had enabled the manufacture of light and cheaper machines that can help smallholder farmers revolutionize agriculture both in terms of quantity and quality of products grown and processed.
He said the notion that mechanization is only for those in large-scale farming was misguided and a threat to Kenya’s food security, adding that the need to boost crop yields to feed Kenyans was becoming a priority and that technological advancements and innovations could help small-scale farmers improve productivity, thus making agriculture more profitable.
“The university is seeking ways of enhancing food security through mechanized farming, irrigation, and use of quality seeds and appropriate fertilizers,” he elaborated.
Professor Kibwage explained that mechanized farming contributes to timely preparation of land, efficient land use, and increased production, in addition to reducing the cost of production and creating more employment opportunities, particularly among the youth.
He said there was a need for traders and dealers in agricultural machinery to equip smallholder farmers with technical know-how to operate and maintain the machinery through field days, workshops, farm visits, and seminars to enable them to become commercially successful.
The Don stated that they were encouraging dealers and manufacturers of farm machinery to ensure that their products targeting small-scale farmers were built with simplicity of design, unsurpassed reliability, outstanding fuel economy, and minimal maintenance requirements.
Professor Kibwage emphasized the importance of the partnership in fostering innovation and offering practical solutions for agricultural mechanization.
CFAO-Kenya Finance Director Patrick Karanja, who led the delegation from CFAO, said mechanized farming improves harvesting of the crop, lowering costs and reducing post-harvest losses by 20 percent with fewer damaged crops compared to manual harvest.
He regretted that Kenyan farmers were still shying away from modernization due to lack of capital and assured of skill empowerment to young farmers through the collaboration.
While noting that the continent’s population was expected to double by 2050, Karanja said it was time the continent ditched the hoe in favour of modern technology, which would complete the same tasks far more efficiently, adding that youthful entrepreneurs could enter Kenya’s agricultural mechanization sector and make a great business out of it.
According to the World Bank Report on Agribusiness Indicators, the ratio of mechanization in Kenya is about three tractors per 1,000 hectares or 26.9 tractors per 100 square kilometers.
The report indicates that despite the potential that mechanization has in transforming agriculture by helping farmers to intensify their businesses, mechanization levels remain very low in Kenya and across the continent.
The World Bank attributed the low level to the fact that mechanization is capital intensive, requiring special financial products such as long-term capital, credits, or leasing arrangements, which are beyond smallholder farmers and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
“Nevertheless, where the smallholder farmers access mechanization, they are required to go an extra mile to maximize the potential of the agricultural machines, which, if not maximized, compromises repayment plans and becomes a threat to the profitability of the machines,” the report said.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, in Kenya there are only two (2) tractors for every 2,500 acres. At the moment mechanization levels on farms across Africa are very low, with the number of tractors in Sub-Saharan Africa ranging from 1.3 per square kilometer in Rwanda to 43 per square kilometer in South Africa, compared with 128 per square kilometer in India and 116 per square kilometer in Brazil.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a UN specialized agency that champions efforts to defeat hunger, Africa overall has fewer than two tractors per 1,000 hectares of cropland. There are 10 tractors per 1,000 hectares in South Asia and Latin America.
Kenya’s low level of mechanization is attributed to inadequate training, research and technology development, weak local manufacturing and distribution, insufficient agricultural mechanization quality assurance, a low level of investments in mechanization services, poor extension and technology adoption, and a weak institutional and legal framework.
Amid these challenges, the country is in great need of agricultural mechanization due to the decreasing availability of farm labour, lack of interest by the youth in farming activities, adverse climate change, and HIV and AIDS prevalence, a draft policy document notes.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest uptake of agricultural mechanization in the world and is heavily dependent on manual labour. Several interventions have been made to address this, to varying degrees of success.
Half a decade ago, many countries in the continent established public sector-operated machinery hire services to make it easy for smallholder farmers to get hold of these machines for optimal production.
Research shows that Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania had more tractors than India 40 years ago. However, by 2005, India had a hundred times more tractors in use than the three East African countries combined.
In 1965, Kenya established Tractor Hire Service (THS), whose broad objectives was to open new land for wheat production, introduce modern farming practices, stimulate and encourage private ownership of farm tractors and machinery, and train the farming community on the general techniques for good seedbed preparation.
By Esther Mwangi
