The-Accountant-July-Aug-2018

Governance
present here and others who could not
make it to join us, to make specific and
measurable pledges that contribute to
the goal of integrating women fully into
the global economy through agribusiness.
The WAAW initiative supports the
Agricultural Finance Corporation’s
strategic plan 2018-2022 and AFC’s
transformation to align to Government
objectives to deliver on food and nutrition
security under the Big4 Agenda, a very
momentous time for AFC.
I thank Hon Franklin Bett and Mr.
Lucas Meso, for all the work they do to
support agricultural revolution through
finance in this country with enthusiasm
and energy in their roles as Chairman and
Managing Director of (AFC). The world
needs leaders like you. I also thank you for
a coveted opportunity to serve my country
through AFC as Head of Operations, a
position I took over with overwhelming
expectations from the women and youth
of this country.
AFC is a State Corporation wholly
owned by the Government of Kenya
and mandated to finance rural and
agricultural development in Kenya. As a
Development Finance Institution (DFI),
the Corporation prioritizes its agrifinance
activities in line with Government
objectives towards development impact
on improved livelihoods through
food security, poverty alleviation and
employment/income generation. This
requires full participation of both men
and women. The Corporation has done
a lot to address the issues that constrain
women in agriculture, particularly on
technical assistance and access to finance
but a lot remain unaddressed and AFC
cannot do it alone, hence this rallying call.
According to FAO, women produce
more than 50 percent of the food grown
worldwide. Women play multiple roles
in agricultural production and food
security. In sub-Saharan Africa; women
contribute 60 to 80 percent of the labor
in both food productions for household
consumption and for sale. In Kenya, a
sizeable proportion of the rural labor
force (over 51%) is engaged in small-scale
agriculture and women are the majority
in this sector hence their crucial role in
translating agricultural production to
food and nutrition security.
The significant involvement in small
scale agriculture is an important factor
among measures to improve agricultural
performance. Women provide 75% of the
labor force in small-scale agriculture and
manage 40% of the small scale farms in
Kenya. The role of women in the overall
development of the agricultural sector
cannot therefore be overemphasized.
Today I speak not just as an employee
of AFC, but a daughter, wife, mother and
woman from the Teso community on the
extreme west of Kenya. There, not many
of us are educated hence so many of us
live in the rural areas of Busia County,
married early, rearing many children
and ploughing with a hoe to produce
subsistence food. Recent statistics confirm
that the poorest segment of Kenya’s
population is women in rural areas.
In Teso, we women traditionally don’t
own land, meaning we face difficulties
accessing capital unless lenders like AFC
offer alternative collateral or organize
us into well governed groups. Even the
women who go against this norm, face
land adjudication challenges. Several
NGOs come with ‘poverty alleviation’
projects so we wait for one after another.
This story is common for all the rural
small holder farmers, majority of whom
are women. I can go on to narrate the
situation in pastoralist communities, arid
and semi-arid lands, conflict stricken
areas, highlands/high potential/cash crop
areas, informal urban settlements, and the
youth. In most pastoral communities for
instance, women don’t own the cattle but
only access the milk to feed the children.
Whenever I take time to interact with
these women groups, the common
response is ‘Mungu ametukumbuka’ (God
has remembered us).
A bigger challenge for the women
agri-preneurs we work with, is on farm
accounting and financial reporting for
agricultural enterprises. Several small
and medium agricultural enterprises
struggle with industry specific issues on
accounting for agricultural operations. I
call upon the Institute of Certified Public
Accountants (ICPAK) to support the
WAAW initiative and continuously offer
education on accounting and financial
management to women agri-preneurs and
their farm managers. Such training should
be comprehensive enough to go beyond
format and content of farm financial
statements, disclosure notes, specific farm
financial ratios to include calculation and
use of farm financial data.
Over my last two years at AFC, the
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