Hi all,

Here is input received on topic #3: Small farms and past challenges”

Q3.1/6 - Question: "3.1.  Identify the three main challenges which small farms, in your region, have faced in the recent past."

From: Esther Mwende Muindi <[log in to unmask]> (Kenya)

Challenges faced by small scale farmers in Kenya vary from region to region. In the highlands, the main challenges are:

1) Lack of good market for their products leading to either lose perishable products, selling at a throw away price or exploitation by middlemen.

2) cost of inputs: Most farmers purchase inputs in small amounts and because some are not organized into cooperatives or groups to have a better bargaining power, they purchase at exaggerated prices from middlemen or local input suppliers. This cost affects their gross margins and they cannot break even.

3) Effects of climate change: Most small scale farmers rely on either rain fed agriculture or irrigation.  Climate variability or changing weather patterns experienced over the past few years which has resulted to among others,  unreliable rains, drying up of water bodies where farmers obtain irrigation water has made agricultural production for small scale farmers who have limited capital base a big challenge. 



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