Factors of Agricultural Production Agricultural Land
Agricultural land is land set aside for agricultural use. It is used for rearing of livestock, growing of crops so as to produce food for human and animal consumption. The other names used to refer to agricultural land include cropland, farmland or pasture land. Institutions like the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, refer to agricultural land as a combination of arable, permanent, and pasture lands.
Source: kansasfarmfoodconnection.org
Agricultural Land in Kenya
The agricultural sector in Kenya contributes about 51% to the country’s GDP. About 26% is a direct contribution whereas 25% is indirectly. Out of the total agricultural production, 78% is by smallholder farmers. Smallholder farms dominate the sector the majority of which farm on land between 0.2 to 3 Hectares.
Barriers to Agricultural Productivity
a. Land and Population Pressures
The average farm size in Kenya is falling. There is a significant constraint to agricultural land production due to the increasing concentrated land distribution. Small holder farmers are the most affected with the rising population pressures on agricultural land.
Source: Makao bora
The rise in population is slowing minimizing the average sizes of farms owned by individual farmers. The mean size of smallholder farms fell from 2.28 to 1.86 Hectares. The ever-decreasing farm sizes fails to generate surplus and hence undermines the capacity for farmers to mechanize and improve the efficiency of their production activities.
In the years between 2009 and 2014, the average urban household land holding rose from 22% to 32.1%. (Jayne et al.2016, p. 207). Medium to large scale farms are a risk to small-holder farms due to the advantage of economies of scale, power, policy influence and politics that comes with having a large production capacity.
Land distribution is ever becoming concentrated. A study by Masters et al., 2013, p.3, indicates that there is a growth of farms below 5 Ha and a sharp decline of farms between 5 to 10 Ha. This trend can be associated with subdivision of land.
Fig. 1 The percentage of total land on Farms size 0 to 100 Hectares
Land conflicts is another pressure on the productivity of agricultural land. It minimizes production of agricultural land by 13%. Farming on disputed land minimizes the crops planted, the inputs utilized and the general crop care.
a. Soil fertility and Land Degradation
Land degradation in Kenya is ever increasing. Sustainable land management policies and practices have been neglected.
Conclusion
To boost land as a factor of production, a number of things need to happen including:
1. Increase the area of land under irrigation. The average yield in irrigated spaces is 90% more than rain-fed areas.
2. Reform land ownership models. Focus land ownership on inclusiveness and productivity. Poor land management and ownership is a huge hindrance to agricultural land productivity. Action should be directed towards establishing security for land tenures, defining land property rights, pooling together of farms to increase the area of land under production so as to produce surplus. Land reforms that encourage the use of land as collateral are required for improved production in Kenya and Africa.
3. Agro-dealers are the main source of extension information and knowledge. They are closely followed by government extension officers. Lack of information, high cost of inputs and tools of production, lack of expertise, limited access to market and finance opportunities are a major hindrance to growth, development of land and agricultural production.
References
Jayne, T. S., Chamberlin, J., Traub, L., Sitko, N., Muyanga, M., Yeboah, F. K., Anseeuwe, W., Chapoto, A., Wineman, A., Nkonde, C. & Kachule, R. (2016). Africa’s changing farm size distribution patterns: The rise of medium-scale farms. Agricultural Economics, 47, 197-214. doi: 10.1111/agec.12308
Masters, W. A., Djurfeldt, A. A., De Haan, C., Hazell, P., Jayne, T., Jirstr?m, M. & Reardon, T. (2013). Urbanization and farm size in Asia and Africa: Implications for food security and agricultural research. Global Food Security, 8. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2013.07.002