No abstract

The Government of Kenya pursues maize marketing policy objectives through the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), which procures and sells maize at administratively determined prices, and stores maize as a contingency against future shortages. A private sector marketing channel competes with the NCPB. This article estimates the effects of NCPB activities on the historical path of private sector prices in Kenyan maize markets between 1989 and 2004. The analysis is carried out using a reduced form vector autoregression model (VAR) estimated with sparse data and imposing only minimal identification restrictions. Results show that NCPB activities have stabilized maize market prices in Kenya, reduced price levels in the early 1990s, and raised average price levels by roughly 20% between 1995 and 2004. Over the past decade, the price-raising activities of the NCPB have transferred income from urban consumers and a majority of small-scale farm households that are net buyers of maize to a relatively small number of large- and small-scale farmers who are sellers of maize. Copyright (c)2008 International Association of Agricultural Economists.

This paper addresses the potential for interlinked credit/input/output marketing arrangements for particular cash crops to promote food crop intensification. Using panel survey data from Kenya, we estimate a household fixed-effects model of fertilizer use per hectare of food crops. Results indicate that households engaging in interlinked marketing programs for selected cash crops applied considerably greater fertilizer on other crops (primarily cereals) not directly purchased by the cash crop trading firm. These findings suggest that, in addition to the direct stimulus that interlinked cash crop marketing arrangements can have on small farmer incomes, these institutional arrangements may provide spillover benefits for the productivity of the farmers' other activities such as food cropping.

The study presented in this chapter identified the factors associated with the success and failure of agricultural cooperatives in the liberalized Kenyan rural economy in which government withdrew the administrative and financial support it had previously offered cooperatives and devolved governance authority to cooperative members. It is revealed that the retreat of government resulted in a legal and regulatory vacuum that adversely affected the performance of many cooperatives and facilitated exploitative behaviour on the part of some unscrupulous members and business associates. Furthermore, a lack of general understanding among the membership of the business of running a cooperative left some with a dearth of management, accounting and marketing skills necessary to compete effectively. The experience of decentralization of control over cooperatives was not uniformly negative, however, as some evolved in response to the changing environment and seemed to thrive, delivering good value to their members. Successful cooperatives were generally characterized by a well-educated and skilled management committee, and transparency, accountability and responsiveness of the management to the members at large.

This paper addresses the potential for interlinked credit/input/output marketing arrangements for particular cash crops to promote food crop intensification. Using panel survey data from Kenya, we estimate a household fixed-effects model of fertilizer use per hectare of food crops. Results indicate that households engaging in interlinked marketing programs for selected cash crops applied considerably greater fertilizer on other crops (primarily cereals) not directly purchased by the cash crop trading firm. These findings suggest that, in addition to the direct stimulus that interlinked cash crop marketing arrangements can have on small farmer incomes, these institutional arrangements may provide spillover benefits for the productivity of the farmers' other activities such as food cropping.