Promise and problem in the development of Kenya"s wheat agriculture

The Central and Rift Valley Provinces are perhaps the only areas in Africa that have the agroclimatic conditions necessary for successful use of modern, high-yielding, wheat varieties. Relatively large-scale farming and state-of-the-art techniques have been used throughout most of the twentieth century. Kenya has collaborated in scientific endeavors to invent and implement new mechanical, chemical, and biological technology. Yet the green revolution, which transformed much of Latin-American and Asian wheat agriculture, has had a relatively minor effect on Kenyan wheat production. For example, Kenya was a net exporter of wheat throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. By the end of the 1970s, Kenya was importing wheat to meet domestic demand. The current paper is an historical interpretation of the promise and problems of the Kenya wheat sector over the past century. This interpretation has two objectives: (1) to present a chronology of Kenya"s wheat sector and the events which most affected that sector during the twentieth century; and (2) to provide insights into whether Kenya can raise wheat yields and output to levels achieved in other developing countries, and if the government should actively pursue such a target. (Author abstract)