Kenya Maize Development Program

The Kenya Maize Development Program (KMDP) was a program of the U.S. Agency for International Development in Kenya. It was initially an $11.2 million program schedule to run for four years, implemented by ACDI/VOCA. However, the program was extended and ran from 2002 to 2010. Partners in the program included Cereal Growers Association of Kenya, Farm Input Promotions Africa Ltd.(FIPS), and the Kenya Agricultural Commodity Exchange (KACE). In February 2011, ACDI/VOCA announced it had won a $2.27 million contract from USAID for an 18-month follow-on project to KMDP.

Of the 370,000 farmers involved in the program, over 100,000 completed the project-designed training course in "Farming as a Family Business," which taught farmers to use hybrid seeds and synthetic fertilizer. "In 2007 KMDP, in collaboration with the private sector, research community, universities and government organizations, published the Kenya Maize Handbook." As part of the program, farmers were given warehouse receipts for their stored maize and then use the stored crop as collateral to obtain loans.

To promote use of purchased inputs like hybrid seed and fertilizer, "KMDP [worked] through its sub-grantees, like Farm Input Promotions (FIPS) – which uses samples of inputs (i.e., seeds, fertilizers, etc.) donated by private companies – for demonstration on farmers’ fields, provides extension information, and sells inputs in small affordable packages, an approach that has been effective in increasing access to inputs and extension services to women."

"A key outcome of KMDP from 2002-2010 was to foster a more responsive policy environment for the maize sub-sector. Despite KMDP’s involvement in a relatively successful decade of reform, the maize sector and, to a large extent, other staple crops are still characterized by highly guarded value chain positions and often distorted policy."

"This dramatic growth in smallholder productivity is brought about by improving farmer business management, tailoring input distribution specifically for smallholders (new types and smaller packages), and bulk purchases and marketing through the groups. Smallholder farmers are learning to adhere to international quality and linking directly with private sector business development services. Through KMDP, ACDI/VOCA helps stimulate increased demand for business services by providing linkages and awareness of the services and products available, while addressing constraints on the delivery of these services. For example, KMDP facilitated the first-ever private sector-focused maize industry business fair in September 2003 to bring together over 3,000 farmers and 200 business service providers to create effective business linkages. Since then, KMDP has held annual business fairs with as many as 80 exhibitors and 20,000 people participating in the 2008 event, resulting in smallholder producers connecting directly to market service providers and thereby reducing the number of middlemen in the value chain."

Contact Information

• Web: http://kenya.usaid.gov/programs/economic-growth/490

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• USAID
• Feed the Future in Kenya
• The Adoption of Maize in Kenya
• Staple Food Crops Program
• Kenya Dairy Sector Competitiveness Program (KDSCP)
• Kenya Horticulture Competitiveness Program (KHCP)
• Kenya Access to Rural Finance (KARF)
• Drylands Livestock Development Program
• Purchase for Progress (P4P)

External resources

• Kenya – Kenya Maize Development Program (KMDP), ACDI/VOCA, July 2009.
• Kenya Feed the Future Multi-Year Strategy 2011-2015
• Kenya Maize Development Program, Cereal Growers Association.
• "Workshop on Cost Effective Aflatoxin Risk Reduction Strategies in Maize Value Chain," 26th to 30th March 2009, ACDI/VOCA Activities under KMDP.

External articles

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