Posted on April, 21, 2025 at 12:25 pm
Kenya's agricultural data collection has historically suffered from inconsistent methodologies across counties, outdated baseline information and significant time lags between data collection and publication, often rendering the information obsolete for timely interventions.
Kenya is leveraging the power of centralised data through the innovative Food Systems Dashboard to tackle persistent food security challenges and reduce the staggering levels of food waste plaguing the nation.
The initiative, bringing together government ministries, county departments, private sector players and international organisations aims to transform how food systems are managed by ensuring policy decisions and interventions are data-driven rather than based on historical practices that have failed to deliver results.
"You find that the government and other players in the food systems have been doing the same things over the years. For example, spending a lot of money on subsidised seeds and fertiliser, distributing free inputs, yet the results remain the same," says Dr Josiah Ateka, a food s ystem expert at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
"These interventions fail to yield desired results because they are not data-driven. Kenya's food system is still struggling to meet basic nutrition needs, with some 27 percent of the population undernourished despite hefty investments in food production by both county and national governments," he adds.
The current landscape of agricultural data in Kenya is characterised by fragmentation and limited accessibility. Different government departments, county offices, research institutions, and private organisations maintain separate data systems that don't communicate with each other, creating information silos that hamper effective decision-making.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, agricultural data collection has historically suffered from inconsistent methodologies across counties, outdated baseline information and significant time lags between data collection and publication, often rendering the information obsolete for timely interventions.
Tom Dienya, head of Agricultural Statistics Unit in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, acknowledges these significant gaps. "At the Agriculture ministry, we have the Kenya Integrated Agriculture Management Information System as the national system for agricultural data collection and management. It's important to have and embrace a centralised data system like the Food Systems Dashboard as a source of information for all players in the food system."
The Food Systems Dashboard, supported by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Johns Hopkins University, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and others, aims to break down these silos by incorporating data from all relevant stakeholders.
"The Food System Dashboard brings together much-needed data to support food systems transformation. It's an all-inclusive data system that guides environmental conservation, climate change mitigation and transportation," explains Dr Ateka. "It features about 70 carefully curated data visualisations and diagnostics to support policymakers, non-governmental organisations, traders, civil society leaders, and others to understand key dimensions of Kenya's food systems."
One of the critical areas the Dashboard aims to address is the significant food loss and waste occurring throughout Kenya's food supply chain. According to a United Nations report released last September, 13.2 per cent of food produced globally is lost between harvest and retail, while 19 per cent of total global food production is wasted in households.
In Kenya, these statistics translate to alarming levels of waste. Out of 3,314,429.5 tonnes of maize produced in 2021, about 629,741 tonnes could not be accounted for, while 84,440 tonnes out of 444,423 tonnes of sweet potato went into wastage and losses.
Fruits and vegetables suffer the most, with losses reaching 40 per cent, according to FAO data—and that's just for export markets, with even higher losses at the farm level due to poor rural road networks.
Immaculate Nyaugo, a nutritionist at GAIN-Kenya, explains how the lack of data exacerbates this problem: "Clear information helps develop strategies to address the challenges of food loss and waste in Kenya. The lack of data to guide intervention creates a challenge—poor visibility results in food being produced without accounting for its utilization."
She points to specific examples where better data could reduce waste: "Examples are the cabbages and Irish potatoes in Nyandarua or milk glut in the Central region, and perishable foods like fruits may spoil in transit due to poor routing or timing, all of which could be improved with better tracking and forecasting data."
The lack of reliable agricultural data has severely hampered Kenya's food security planning for decades. According to the Ministry of Agriculture's Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy (2019-2029), inconsistent data collection methodologies and poor coordination between agencies have led to contradictory statistics on key metrics like production volumes, yield per hectare, and post-harvest losses.
The consequences have been far-reaching. During the 2016-2017 drought, according to a World Bank assessment, Kenya's emergency response was delayed by nearly three months due to conflicting information on food reserves and production shortfalls. This delay significantly increased the humanitarian impact and the ultimate cost of relief efforts.
Similarly, according to a FAO report on food systems in Eastern Africa (2022), Kenya's agricultural subsidy programes have frequently missed their targets due to outdated information on farmer needs and market conditions. Between 2018-2022, approximately 38 per cent of fertiliser subsidies went to areas where soil conditions made them ineffective or unnecessary, representing billions of shillings in misallocated resources.
The Kenya Food Security Steering Group has noted that annual crop forecasting has consistently over or underestimated harvests by 15-30 per cent, complicating both import planning and price stabilisation efforts. This data unreliability has contributed to both food shortages and price volatility.
The Dashboard initiative acknowledges the constitutional division of responsibilities between national and county governments regarding agricultural data management.
"According to the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, data collection and management is a shared responsibility between the national and county governments," notes Mr Dienya. "The national government's role includes developing harmonised tools and guidelines for data collection and management, ensuring all counties use a common approach."
At the county level, officials are embracing the Dashboard as a solution to longstanding data gaps. Daniel Muchiri, the crops director for Nyandarua County, explains: "We are talking of a problem we are trying to address, but we have no good point of reference. The Food System Dashboard has brought more on board, the various departments and ministries that have a direct and indirect role to play in food security at national and county level."
Under the GAIN-supported initiative, the Agriculture ministry is providing regular training to county staff on improved data collection methods, including skills for estimating crop area and yields, data analytics, and report writing. The programme also supports the use of emerging technologies for data collection such as satellite imagery, GIS, and remote sensing tools.
The Food Systems Dashboard serves as a central repository, maintaining historical data for counties and ensuring data safety in case of local losses. It also facilitates coordination with state corporations like Kenya Dairy Board, Tea Board of Kenya, Kenya Meat Commission, and Kenya Sugar Board, which collect and share field data with counties.
As climate change continues to disrupt traditional growing patterns and food production, this data-driven approach offers hope for a more resilient and responsive food system—one where informed decisions replace repetitive, ineffective interventions, and where the substantial food waste currently plaguing Kenya can be significantly reduced.
Source: Nation