Cash Crop Economy – Agriculture is the back-bone of Kenya’s economy. It provides food for the population, creates jobs for thousands of people and generates income both through local and foreign trade. Agriculture is practised both for subsistence and export.
Agriculture is the back-bone of Kenya’s economy. It provides food for the population, creates jobs for thousands of people and generates income both through local and foreign trade. Agriculture is practised both for subsistence and export. The main food crops grown in the country are maize, vegetables, beans, tubers, millet, and sorghum among others. The main cash crops are coffee, tea, horticulture, sugar cane, pyrethrum, cotton and sisal.
Agriculture accounts for 24 % of the GDP. Besides creating jobs, providing food for subsistence and earning foreign exchange, agriculture provides the raw material for various industrial products.
Agricultural activities range from intensive crop production and mixed farming in areas that receive heavy rainfall to cattle ranching in the dry parts of the country. Major agricultural products are tea, coffee, horticulture, maize, wheat, sugarcane, daily products, cotton, sisal, pyrethrum and cashew nuts. Cash crops contribute 50 per cent of export earnings with horticulture, coffee, tea, tobacco, cotton, sisal, pyrethrum, and cashew nuts leading the way. Fruits and vegetables are other key exports. The primary food crops are maize, beans, cassava, potatoes and sorghum. Commercial agriculture contributes about 2.5 per cent of GDP and about 8 per cent to formal employment. Key crops are tea, coffee, horticulture, maize, sugar, wheat and pyrethrum.
Cash Crop Economy – Commercial Crops
Kenya main cash crops are tea, horticulture, coffee, pyrethrum, cotton, cashew nuts, and coconuts.
Cotton
Cotton production has also been in the decline in the past two decades mostly due to neglect of farmers and the collapse of cotton mills following massive importation of second hand clothes. However, recent developments, including the AGOA market, is giving new impetus for the revival of cotton production.
Horticulture
The horticultural industry has grown rapidly in the past three decades to become one of the leading foreign exchange earners. Horticultural products include fruits, vegetables and cut flowers. About 90 % of the produce is consumed locally while the rest is exported. The traditional market for horticultural products has been Europe, but in recent times, there have been efforts to diversify and reach out to the Middle East, mainly United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.
The key challenge in horticulture exports is meeting the high quality and safety standards set by the European Union and America. One of the standards adopted by Kenya is called EUREPGAP, which seeks to prevent potentially hazardous products containing biological, chemical and physical contaminants from reaching the market and consumers.
Tea
Tea is among the leading foreign exchangr eaner for Kenya. It contributes about 20% of the total foreign exchange earnings.
Coffee
Coffee is an important cash crop to Kenya’s economy as it earns foreign exchange. The crop is mainly grown in high altitude areas like Mt. Elgon and Mt. Kenya regions. This crops have been grown in Kenya for a long time and are considered by many as a source of livelihood within the country due to lack of white collar jobs.
Pyrethrum
Kenya produces about 18,000 tonnes of pyrethrum on 20,000 hectares a year. This puts the country among the highest-ranking producers of the crop globally. The crop is a leading foreign exchange earner bringing in an equivalent of KSh1.5 to 2.0 billion a year. Like with other crops, the country’s capacity for pyrethrum production has not been fully utilised. Some of the challenges facing pyrethrum production are institutional inefficiencies within the industry that hamper marketing, as well high costs of producing the crop.
Cash Crop Economy – Contribution to Economy
- Supply of food and it provides food security to the majority of population.
- Provision of employment.
- Supply of foreign earnings through export of agricultural produce.
- Supply of raw materials to agro-industries and other sectors of economy.
- Capital accumulation.