Effects of Covid 19 response policies on strategic government deliveries in agriculture and food security sector in Kenya: A case of Kisumu county

Abstract

The performance of the Strategic Government Deliveries (SGDs) in Kenya has demonstrated inconsistent progression over the period 2012 to 2021.Strategic Government Deliveries being a portfolio of interventions consisting of infrastructural improvement, improved farmer institutions and farmer groups, enhanced financial assistance, land conversion functions and use of technology. Strategic Government Deliveries (SGD) in Agriculture are broad policy guided outcomes and practices that target optimization of agricultural potential in terms of its production, processing, distribution and economic value addition for all levels of agricultural practice. Covid-19 pandemic attack of human existence and the socio-economic operating environment in diverse proportions, created production, distribution and value chain challenges, which have been difficult to recover from even in a post pandemic period. The international and Kenya’s response to the devastation through regulations and policy instruments for control and mitigation have had non-standardized implementation, hence may not lend similar effect to all the sectors of the economy. The fact that the agricultural sector contributes 51 percent to the total GDP; 26% directly and around 25% indirectly, 60 percent of employed and 65 percent of Kenya’s total exports, and is dominated by small scale farmers; who produce 78 percent of the total agricultural production when compared with large scale producers, it becomes important to examine the effect/contribution of COVID‐19 Response Policies on Strategic Government Deliveries in the Agriculture and Food Security Sector in Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to; establish the extent of COVID 19 response policies’ effect on volume agricultural food production in Kisumu County; determine the effect of COVID 19 response policies on agro food prices in Kisumu County; analyze the effect of COVID 19 response policies on agricultural food access in Kisumu County. The study area was Kisumu county having a target population of 106,557 (47% to total) of farmer households. It constitutes 224 food producers, 15 Agro support staff, 55 processors, 135 distributors and 750 consumers. Purposive sampling was used to select 1179 respondents. The study adopted a correlational research design. The study was guided by systems theory. Primary data, consisting of demographic characteristics, agro food access and quality and secondary data, consisting of agro food prices and volume was used for the study. Data was quantitatively analysed using correlational method, to generate the magnitude of effect of the response policies on strategic government deliveries in the Agriculture and Food Security Sector. The results revealed that that implementation and enforcement of Covid-19 Response policies (Travel Ban Implementation, Curfew Implementation, Closure of Hotels, Restaurants and Public Places and Trans-Country Border Closure), explains 60.5% variation of Agro Food Product Volume (R2=0.605); 46.5% variation in Agro Food Product Prices (R2=0.465) and 60.0% variation in Agro Food Product access (R2=0.600). Therefore, it is concluded that implementation and enforcement of Covid-19 Response policies adversely affected the food situation in Kisumu County; hence the need for structured mitigation that cushions Agro Food Product Volume, Prices and Access. The study recommends operationalisation of controlled and selected enforcement of Covid-19 and any other pandemic Response policies (Travel Ban Implementation, Curfew Implementation, Closure of Hotels, Restaurants and Public Places and Trans-Country Border Closure) to create food supply corridor.