NICHE explores Kenya
15 Sep 2010
Kenya is a new country in Nuffic’s capacity building portfolio. There are no NPT contacts and experiences to draw upon. NICHE mainly invests in priority sectors set by the Embassy. In Kenya, this support focuses on private sector development in the following sectors: horticulture and dairy, tourism, water resource management, and culture.
High profile, low output
Dutch investment in export-orientated Kenyan horticulture and, in particular, floriculture is significant and well organised. Yet despite its profile, long-range exports of fresh horticultural produce represent only around 5% of total production.
Eighty per cent of horticulture produce is cultivated by smallholders and there is a very significant and increasingly urban domestic market with scope for increased regional exports. NICHE will focus on small scale farmers producing edible produce for these local and regional markets and on the increasing interest in organic farming.
Building linkages
In Kenya there are two million dairy farmers, most of whom have just two cows. There is, on average, one extension officer for every 3,000 farmers. Links between research institutes and extension services have to be strengthened. A lot of research is too theoretical and is not translated into education for extension officers. Linkages between educational institutes and the market are nearly non-existent.
NICHE will help address some of the important issues in the dairy industry; the inclusion of illiterate farmers, quality of the milk, transportation, livestock registration, better use of manure (as fertilizer/product), farm management, value addition and marketing. Practical training is seen as very important. Extension services are often too technical and lacking advice on marketing and the whole value chain.
Tourism
Tourism is the third largest contributor to GDP in Kenya and a key plank for expansion in the government’s Vision 2030. After a disastrous 2008/9 season following post election violence, the sector has recovered well. Tourism is a major source of employment both in the formal and informal sectors.
It is a sector especially attractive to young people, with the perceptions of rewards and prestige. Kenya’s new Tourism Policy recognizes the environment and natural heritage as valuable assets that must be sustainably managed for future generations.
Tourism is often preceded by words such as community, eco, responsible (low impact) and sustainable; used rather randomly to describe current trends and opportunities. In practice, community and ecotourism are overlapping themes, both of which should be addressed responsibly and sustainably.
The Kenya Tourism Policy foresees the development of ecotourism and community-based tourism as part of a diversified and improved set of tourism products that can both enhance rural livelihoods and help alleviate poverty, whilst encouraging the conservation and protection of the natural environment on which virtually the whole of Kenya’s tourism industry depends. NICHE will support these developments.
Water scarcity
Kenya is a water-scarce country. Surface waters cover only two percent of Kenya’s total surface area and 80% of Kenya is made up of arid or semi-arid lands. The uneven distribution of rainfall, in addition to temporal and spatial variations, often lead to recurring droughts or flooding during rainy seasons, resulting in limited socio-economic opportunities for the local communities in these areas.
About 80% of the population live in rural areas with only 40% having access to drinking water and 45% to sanitation, compared to respectively 60% and 55% in urban areas. NICHE will support better demand management strategies and water resources allocation decisions related to surface and groundwater abstractions, based on better data with a particular emphasis on gender equality.
Education
A new TVET Act will create a new Authority for TVET. NICHE will support this Authority, which will be responsible for developing National Qualifications and a Qualifications Assurance Framework, harmonized with neighbouring countries of the East African Community (Tanzania and Uganda).
