January - June 2008 - Kenya Agricultural Research Institute

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The team visited Wilmar to see how the flowers were handled before export. Rosavie provided some finished flower products for viewing. The media team saw various stages of handling Mobydick after the flowers (bolls) were harvested. The farmer harvests and sorts the flowers for pest damage, length and colour among other quality attributes. The cut flowers are then taken to the buying centre nearby where they are graded into 1 st , 2 nd and other grades depending on the flower type. During the visit, the rate of rejection was high. Farmers were informed why the flowers were rejected and suggestions of nutritional or crop protective remedy were given by the buyer. Cut flowers are taken to the godown for various treatments before export. Mr. Kamami the CEO of Wilmar, conducted the media team around the premises. The main market destination for the cut flowers is the Allsmeer Auction in the Netherlands. The project has demonstrated that indeed flower farming is profitable to the smallholder growers. Field grown flowers require low financial and technological Farmers inspect flowers grown by Githunguri Sapewe Self Help Group input but are labour intensive. The labour intensive nature of horticulture makes both the old and young people gainfully occupied. Cut-flowers do not require a large area and in some areas this should be seen as a solution to the shrinking land sizes. The project should be up scaled to other areas where flower growing has a potential. KARI Packages Dissemination Materials for New Technologies By Koinange T. Mukundi and Geoffrey M. Kamau, KARI Headquarters ... Just like the Safari Rally which tests car durability and provides manufacturers with feedback, technology brochures need pre-testing … (Dr E. Mukisira) The above were the words of the Director KARI when opening a four-day write-shop for KARI scientists on 6 th May, 2008 at the Agriculture Information Resource Centre, Kabete. He challenged the 31 participating scientists from ten KARI centres to develop information packages for released agricultural technologies in order to catalyze uptake and adoption by the farming communities. The Director noted that scientists must strive to move the country forward by responding to demands of the farmers and other stakeholders. He observed that extension materials are vital because they help technology users to understand and use them as prescribed. He indicated that KARI would like the researchers on the ground to prescribe the specifications involved in particular technologies that make them work best for the farmer and the country. The Director advised the organsers to ensure that user feedback is captured appropriately during the pretesting process. Besides catalysing the adoption process, the scientists will also benefit from points awarded in the scientists’ evaluation, the Director added on these publications. Dr Mukisira noted that such information would assist to backstop technologies as take-away information for Farmer field schools, Farmer Research groups, Agricultural Shows and is an important pathway of enhancing technology transfer and adoption. He recalled that KARI had successfully used Agricultural Technology and Information Response Initiative (ATIRI), with and now DSU (KAPP) as pathways of delivering information to farmers. He said KARI plans to establish a strong outreach division to proactively possess technology information to the public and challenged the participants to embrace Highlighter No. 23 a culture of communicating technology information as soon as it is available. The Director pledged continued support to researchers to ensure full production of these vital information materials. Speaking in the same function, the Director of AIRC, Ms. Grace Agili, welcomed researchers and added that developers of technologies were best placed to advise on how they should be used for maximum benefit. She further emphasized the vital place of Agriculture in the development of the country. She cited a few of the constraints the sector was experiencing as moisture stress occasioned by low and unpredictable rainfall and welcomed the researchers to feel free to contribute to dissemination of information. The second write shop held from 9 th to 13 th June attended by 32 scientists from 12 research centres at the same venue was opened by the Deputy Director Dr. J.G Mureithi who reiterated the Directors opening words. He stressed on the importance of clarity of the communication between the researchers and farmers. He pointed out that the write-shop was an important event that would go towards adding onto the past efforts in making the institute visible to the users and the taxpayers who are thirsty for this information. He emphasized on the importance of acquiring continuous feedback not only through pre-testing but also during the technology utilization stage. He also commended the task force members for their tireless efforts in the organization of the write shops. A total of 80 brochures covering technologies produced and packaged by most KARI programmes were developed. Pretesting has already started in various KARI centres pending final printing. 8
Land Use Policies and Sustainable Developent (LUPIS) National Forum held at KARI-Kabete By Jane Wamuongo, KARI Headquarters Dr Jane Wamuongo, Assistant Director Land and Water Management opened the National Policy Forum held under the auspices of the LUPIS project at KARI-Kabete on 13 th March 2008. In attendance from KARI were Dr. Patrick Gicheru, Dr. Stella Makokha, Mr. Louis Gachimbi and Mr. Daniel Kilambya who are implementing the project. The objectives of the forum were to: (i) inform the national partners about the project on Land Use Policies and Sustainable Development (ii) present and discuss the main sectoral policies related to land use, and (iii) explore future collaboration opportunities. Apart from these objectives, the forum provided a unique platform for sectoral policy debate which rarely happens since each ministry operates independently. A total of 32 participants/stakeholders representing different sectors especially the ones dealing with the selected policies touching on land issue had been invited. A total of 21 participants attended representing the Ministries of Land, Agriculture, Livestock Development and Fisheries, Water, and Tourism and Wildlife. Other participants were drawn from the Office of the President (Special Programmes, Local Authorities, Ewaso Nyiro Development Authority, Kenya Institute of Public policy (KIPPRA), KARI scientists and University representative. The KARI LUPIS team gave an introduction of the project, its objectives and criteria for selecting Narok District. The Ministry of Lands gave an overview New National Land Policy while the Ministry of Agriculture discussed development and land use in the district and impacts of national soil conservation on the sustainable development. The participants commended KARI for selecting Narok district for the study since the district has multiple land uses due to its diverse potential emanating from varied climatic conditions. The district is a very good case study for impacts of change in land use as the area was initially used by pastoral communities as a dry season grazing area but has now been converted into a settlement in an area. The new Land policy generated a lot of interest and it was agreed that KARI and National Land Policy formulation team that is charged with implementation of the Land Policy should collaborate further. At the end of the one-day forum, it was also agreed that another national forum should be held after one year of the project to share findings of the study. It was also agreed the project would facilitate production of policy briefs showing impacts of different policies on sustainable development. A section of the seminar participants follow the proceedings of the LUPIS seminar Highlighter No. 23 9
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Page 3 and 4: New Agriculture Minister Visits KAR
Page 5 and 6: Case Study When Mr. Pius Makau reti
Page 7: Media Open Day for Smallholder Flow
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January - June 2008 - Kenya Agricultural Research Institute

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