Kenya’s growing population presents both an opportunity and a potential burden for the economy, with the accompanying need to exponentially increase and sustain productivity to meet food and nutrition needs.
80% of the farming population in Kenya is comprised of smallholder farmers. 69% of these are involved in food crop farming, yet the country still experiences chronic food shortages due to low productivity and/or losses.
Just 3.2% of Kenyan farmers use formal borrowing to finance their agricultural operations. A lack of appropriate and accessible financing in areas like inputs, working capital, mechanization, and risk tools is a leading contributor to extremely low productivity in most of the value chains.
With funding from Danida Market Development Partnerships (DMDP), DCA and partners Ingemann, Juhudi Kilimo, and Momentum Trust are using smart technology to tackle the problem, by increasing agricultural production and access to financing for Kenyan smallholder farmers.
The project is introducing innovative, digital climate resilience platforms for agricultural advisory services (climatica.farm) and credit risk assessment (Agroclimatica ), contributing to climate-resilient production, enhanced capacity of smallholder farmers to organize and collectively act to support sustainable agricultural production, financial inclusion, and responsible business conduct.
The project is being implemented by DCA in Nakuru and Nyandarua counties while Momentum Trust leads implementation in Busia and Siaya counties targeting small-holder farmers with a specific focus on women and youth engaged in export vegetable and chia seeds production.
