Publication: Kenya: Agricultural Sector Risk Assessment
Date
2015-11
ISSN
Published
2015-11
Author(s)
D’Alessandro, Stephen P.
Caballero, Jorge
Lichte, John
Simpkin, Simon
Abstract
Despite myriad challenges, Kenya has
emerged in recent years as one of Africa’s frontier
economies, with headline growth in the most recent decade
propelling the country toward middle-income status. Less
well understood is how risk dynamics associated with
production, markets, and policy adversely impact sector
performance, in terms of both influencing ex ante decision
making among farmers, traders, and other sector stakeholders
and causing ex post losses to crops, livestock, and incomes
- destabilizing livelihoods and jeopardizing the country’s
food security. The present study was commissioned in part to
bridge this knowledge gap. It is the first step in a
multiphase process designed to integrate a stronger risk
focus into sector planning and development programs. It
seeks to learn from and build on a range of broad
initiatives by the Government of Kenya (GoK) and its
development partners purposed to enhance Kenya’s resilience
and response to natural disasters. The ultimate objective is
implementation of a holistic and systematic risk management
system that will reduce the vulnerability and strengthen the
resiliency of Kenya’s agricultural supply chains, and the
livelihoods that depend on them. This sector risk assessment
is the primary output of phase one. The study’s main
objective is to identify, assess, and prioritize principal
risks facing Kenya’s agriculture sector by analyzing their
impacts via quantitative and qualitative measures. The
study’s main findings highlight an agriculture sector
increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather variability.
Chapter one gives introduction. Chapter two provides an
overview of Kenya’s agriculture sector and a discussion of
key growth constraints. Chapter three assesses the main
agricultural risks (production, market, and enabling
environment). Chapter four analyzes the frequency and
severity of the major risks identified and assesses their
impact. Chapter five presents some stakeholder perceptions
of these risks and the potential to improve their
management. Chapter six concludes with an assessment of
priorities for risk management and a broad discussion of
possible risk management measures that can help to
strengthen the resiliency of agricultural supply chains and
the livelihoods they support.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“D’Alessandro, Stephen P.; Caballero, Jorge; Lichte, John; Simpkin, Simon. 2015. Kenya: Agricultural Sector Risk Assessment. Agriculture global practice technical
assistance paper;. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/23350 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”