Farmers


National Programmes
The Kenya Government is concerned about the amount of grain lost
through many of the traditional post-harvest management practices.
On a national scale the losses are said to amount to about 25% of
the potential harvest. It is the Government's objective that the
country should remain self-sufficient in maize. It is important, not
only that people have enough to eat, but that scarce foreign
currency should not needlessly be spent on food imports. Program-
mes like the On-Farm Grain Storage Project are promoted in order
to achieve such national objectives. This project has shown that it
is possible to reduce grain losses to satisfactory proportions of
under 5%.
So, through extension agents like yourself, local administration
officials, media publicity, the Government seeks to reach farmers
and persuade them to adopt improved post-harvest methods. But
how readily will farmers appreciate national needs or identify with
a national programme? If a farmer is producing enough for his own
family's consumption, and even has a surplus for sale, then he is not
likely to be much moved by a problem described in purely national
terms. He will be inclined to act only if he is convinced that the
problem is one which directly affects him and his family.
In fact, Dr Mbula's research showed that many farmers do not
perceive grain losses as a major problem-or they have a different
perception of grain loss. Some farmers said that much of the grain
lost to humans is eaten by the chickens and goats-so it is not really
lost at all. Others say that grain infested by weevils or mould is used
for making local beer or fed to the animals-so, again, it is not lost.
Some farmers may be deceived by volume as opposed to weight.
Only when the comparative weights of contaminated and uncon-
taminated grain are demonstrated may they realize what they are
foregoing in weight and profit on the market-or in terms of
healthier foodstuffs for their families or their animals. A farmer
may only be convinced that he is losing a significant proportion of
his harvested grain if his amount of poorly stored grain is compared
with the larger amount saved by a demonstration farmer who has
followed the recommended procedures.
You will make an impact on such farmers only when you can
convince them that their perceptions are false or that there are
other more important considerations that need to be taken into
account. Sometimes it may help to take out a pencil and paper and
calculate the farmer's losses in monetary terms.


Chapter 3