Combating Drought

In 2020, Feed the Future developed a drought-tolerant seed system in three counties in the southeastern region of Kenya. As a result, local communities and markets have strengthened their resilience to droughts and unpredictable weather, bringing in greater yields and food security. As a result, communities throughout the three counties were able to:

• Produce 15,000 kilograms of assorted drought-tolerant seeds which were made available in the community managed seed banks to improve smallholder farmers’ access to quality planting materials.
• Increase the availability of certified potato seed to producers, including seed from cuttings.

Private Sector Partnerships

Feed the Future also collaborated with public and private sector partners to strengthen the ability of Kenya’s county governments to plan and support dairy sector growth. Feed the Future’s efforts helped to develop the last-mile delivery of artificial insemination services in targeted dairy regions.

One notable achievement was the development of an information and communications technology (ICT) platform for improved efficiency of artificial insemination services bundled with cattle vaccine service delivery to combat the East Coast Fever. The platform also helped dairy farmers and producers access an e-voucher incentive system and SMS-extension service from the private sector. In 2020, this communication platform ensured:

• Over 3,300 dairy animals were reached with breed improvement and quality feeding interventions.
• Nearly 1,300 livestock animals received animal health services.
• More than 200 personnel from 10 counties were trained on the management of the ICT platform.

Dairy and Livestock

Feed the Future’s efforts contributed to the rapid expansion of the production and marketing of cattle fodder, which provided a key input for growing the livestock sector and for enabling counties that did not historically produce dairy to enter the market. In collaboration with Feed the Future partners, smallholder farmers are adopting a variety of improved forages, such as the Brachiaria grass variety, a more nutritious and drought-resistant grass, and increasing commercial fodder production.

In 2020, Feed the Future helped farmers produce fodder on over 22,000 hectares and earn over $6 million in annual sales, and worked with over 1,000 youth to find them jobs in commercial fodder production.

Livestock marketing associations play a key role in running the livestock markets in the counties where Feed the Future works. In 2020, Feed the Future helped to strengthen the county-level ability of these associations to run livestock markets efficiently and equitably, generate revenues, be sustainable and serve low-income households. Livestock marketing associations also directly engaged the county governments, resulting in new policies that stipulated revenue-sharing between the associations and the county government, ensuring a favorable environment for private sector businesses.