Kenya Horticulture Competitiveness Program

The Kenya Horticulture Competitiveness Program (KHCP) is a five-year program of the U.S. Agency for International Development in Kenya that began in 2010. It is being administered by the U.S. corporation Fintrac. Fintrac also implemented its predecessor program, the Kenya Horticulture Development Program (USAID-KHDP) from 2003 to 2010.

Goals
The program is intended "to improve productivity and food security and strengthen local and domestic horticulture supply chains."


 * "USAID-KHCP is collaborating with public and private sector partners to address constraints and improve the enabling environment in four components of the horticulture industry:
 * Productivity Enhancement and Food Security – Focusing on increased adoption of new technologies for target crops.
 * Upgrading and Value Addition – Strengthening and adding linkages between growers, and small and large processors.
 * Value Chain Coordination, Marketing and Trade Promotion – Improving value chains integration and market information systems.
 * Business Environment and Institutional Capacity Building – Facilitating enabling policies and strengthening networks of business development services.

KHCP is a continuation and an expansion of its predecessor program, the Kenya Horticulture Development Program. It seeks to help about 200,000 smallholders; build on standards compliance, increase productivity and product development; improve food security and nutrition; identify "value-addition opportunities"; and "[improve] the business environment" for horticultural investment and diversification.


 * "USAID-KHCP is adopting a comprehensive Value Chain + Good Agricultural Practices (VC+GAP) approach to optimize productivity, market access, and income for small-scale farmers. Cross-cutting activities of the project including gender mainstreaming, environmental stewardship and natural resource management are embedded in all interventions."

Target Crops
KHCP's target crops include:
 * Fruit: Mangoes, avocadoes, passion fruit, papaya, and bananas
 * Vegetables: Peas, beans, chillies, tomatoes, onions, kale, cabbage, butternut squash and "export veg"
 * Root crops: Sweet potatoes and potatoes
 * Pulses: Cowpeas, Mung beans
 * Flowers: "Summer flowers for smallholders production," Arabicum, Eryngium, and Anthurium
 * Nuts: Cashews
 * Food: Dried chillies, dried fruit, potato flour
 * Fruit Juices: Mango, Passionfruit
 * Extracts: Aloe, Gum Arabic, Moringa
 * Essential Oils: Coriander, Palma Rosa, Tea Tree

Geographic Areas
The program operates in Thika in Kenya's Central Province; Mombasa in Coast Province; Kisumu in Nyanza Province; Eldoret in Rift Valley Province; Bungoma in Western Province; and Kibwezi in Eastern Province.

Partners
Partners include:
 * Good Neighbours Community Programme (GNCP), "a local NGO specializing in passion fruit production and marketing."
 * "GNCP was awarded a partner fund agreement to help develop the passion fruit value chain. The group will work with various partners in the region to distribute clean planting materials to producers, while also working closely with traders, irrigation companies and other service providers involved in supporting the passion fruit value chain."


 * Making Cents International, which "will help integrate youth into horticultural value chains."
 * Wilmar Agro Limited
 * Analysis Strategic and Associates, which "conducted a survey of more than 150 smallholder farmers about production of tomatoes, sweet potatoes and pulses."
 * Business Initiatives for Survival and Eradication of Poverty (BISEP)
 * Agricultural Technologies & Information Program
 * Ukamba Christian Community Services (UCCS)
 * Sunripe
 * Animal Draft Power Program
 * Dryland Seeds Ltd.

Management

 * Director: Ian Chesterman
 * Deputy Director: Livingstone Ochwada
 * Deputy Director: Chagema Kedera, PhD
 * Grants Manager: Naomi Mwangi

Contact Information

 * Kenya Horticulture Competiveness Project
 * Piedmont Plaza, Wing A, 3rd Floor, Ngong Road
 * P.O Box 3074-00506 Nyayo Stadium, Nairobi
 * Ph: 254-020-2121838, 254-020-2121839,
 * Email: khcp@fintrac.com
 * Web: http://www.growkenya.org/ or www.fintrac.com

Related SourceWatch articles

 * USAID
 * Feed the Future in Kenya
 * Kenya Maize Development Program
 * Kenya Dairy Sector Competitiveness Program (KDSCP)
 * Kenya Horticulture Development Program (KHDP)
 * Staple Food Crops Program
 * Kenya Access to Rural Finance (KARF)
 * Drylands Livestock Development Program
 * Purchase for Progress (P4P)

External resources

 * Kenya Horticulture Competitiveness Program, USAID
 * USAID Kenya Horticulture Competitiveness Program, Rural Service Programme.
 * Update on Kenyan Horticulture, May 2010.
 * Kenya's Horticulture Competitiveness with Chagema Kedera, YouTube.

Monthly Updates

 * USAID-KHCP project overview, October 2010
 * Agriculture Permanent Secretary Dr. Romano Kiome reveals that the government has finalized the horticulture policy, November 2010
 * USAID-KHCP is mitigating climate change through training in good agricultural practices in over 100 demonstration plots, December 2010
 * 20MT of smallholder flowers sold through the Dutch flower auction, January 2011
 * Market information systems workshop widely attended by public and private sector organizations, February 2011
 * Smallholder bouquets tested in Sam's Clubs in the US, March 2011
 * Commercial quality standards training facilitated by Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), April 2011
 * 16 Million Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato vines in production as a result of USAID-KHCP support, May 2011
 * New sweet potato variety embraced by farmers, driving demand for new vines, June 2011
 * Food security and incomes increasing in Eastern Kenya as a result of USAID-KHCP investments, July 2011
 * Tomato prices increase, increasing profits for farmers who use greenhouses, August 2011
 * Dissemination of 12,000 tissue culture banana plantlets fast tracks production in Central and Western regions, September 2011
 * Simple value addition technologies dramatically improve farmer yields and incomes, October 2011
 * An "underground revolution" gathers pace in Western and Nyanza regions, November 2011
 * Increasing Youth Participation in the Horticulture Subsector, December 2011
 * Greenhouse Tunnel Technology Set to Benefit Smallholder Export Farmers in Mt. Kenya Region, January 2012
 * February 2012, February 2012
 * USAID-KHCP helping farmers to increase sweet potato yields by an average of more than 60%, March 2012
 * Varietal Banana Technology Boosted by Electronic Media, April 2012

Market Information

 * Horticulture Market News: February 2011: a monthly snapshot of national horticulture related events and regional prices, February, 2011
 * The EU Market for African Birds Eye Chilies: a market report on the demand for ABE Chili in the EU, May, 2011
 * The EU Market for Sweet Potatoes: a market report on the demand for Sweet Potatoes in the EU, May, 2011
 * Horticulture Market News: June 2011: a monthly snapshot of national horticulture related events and regional prices, June, 2011
 * Horticulture Retail Audit: July 2011: a monthly snapshot of horticulture retail trade in Kenya, July, 2011
 * Fruits and Vegetables Retail Audit: a brief overview of horticulture retail trade in Kenya, September, 2011
 * Kenya's Intra Africa Horticulture Trade: a brief overview of the horticultural trade between Kenya and other African countries including Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia South Africa and Egypt, September, 2011

External articles
2010:
 * "USAID commits $32 million to Kenya’s horticulture sector," Afrique Avenir, October 13, 2010.
 * "Small-scale farmers to compete for Sh2.56bn US upgrade cash, Kenya Agricultural Commodity Exchange Ltd., October 14, 2010.
 * "Project Supports Kenya Agricultural Sector," Africa Report, October 29, 2010.
 * "USAID launches horticulture competitiveness support project," Hortinews.