Bees are loved and feared in equal measure. A majority of people love them because of the honey they produce while they are feared because of the sting. Well, bees are man’s best friend if you don’t provoke them, and there are many reasons to love than fear them. To begin with, do you know that if bees disappear from the surface of the earth, man will only have four years to live? Without bees, there would be no pollination and without pollination, there would be no food. Second, bees produce various products, from honey to propolis and beeswax, which...

Crop conditions are favourable across the country for maize, wheat, rice and beans due to rains received in April. Kitui reported exceptional crop performance for all crops. Weeding and topdressing were the main activities with counties in North rift reporting planting as rains were received in April • Wheat is in early vegetative stages in Narok and Nakuru while in north rift it is expected to begin in May/ June. General crop performance is good due to the adequate rains received in most areas. Leaching reported in low lying areas in Meru and FAW in Baringo putting the counties under...

Food insecurity is a major development challenge in developing countries. In Kenya, the food poverty incidence remains high, as about 1 in every 3 individuals does not meet the minimum daily calorific requirement. Research points to possible gender-linked pathways through which agriculture influences food security in households. Gender considerations are especially important in the African context where there are broad divisions in the responsibilities between men and women and how they use their personal income in line with traditional cultures. To evaluate this pathway in the Kenyan context, we explore how women’s empowerment in agriculture compares to that of men,...

Achieving food and nutritional security by all people at all times is a key development goal at the global, regional and national levels. Gender mainstreaming in food and nutritional policies, programmes and projects is increasingly being recognized as important to the realization of SDG 21 . In addition, access to wellfunctioning markets is likely to improve farmers profitability and their access to diverse nutritious foods. This paper avails the evidence of gendered access to organized agricultural markets on household dietary diversity scores in Kenya using nationwide survey data. Using an inverse probability weighted treatment-effect estimator, we evaluate whether improving women’s...

This Strategy is divided into two segments. The first segment consist of five Strategic Pillars with emphasis on market infrastructure; agricultural produce and product standards; supply of agricultural produce and products; value addition of agricultural produce and marketing channels. The second segment is the Strategic Enablers, whose emphasis is on the transport infrastructure and logistics; agricultural market intelligence, technology and innovation; marketing capacity; and access to domestic and export markets.