Agriculture drops four quarters in a row – Business Daily
Agriculture sector contracted by 0.6 percent in the third quarter of last year making it the fourth consecutive contraction from the sector.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics reveals that the sector, which contributes up to 22 percent of the country’s total output has been contracting since the fourth quarter of 2021.
Kenya’s over reliance on rain-fed agriculture has been put to test with climate change leading to unreliable rains and unpredictable weather patterns.
“The slow down performance of the sector was mainly attributed to unfavorable weather conditions that prevailed the first three quarters of 2022,” said the statistics agency during the release.
The subdued performance by the sector comes at a time when the government is considering adoption of genetically modified organisms as a solution to achieve food security.
Milk production and vegetable exports shrunk over the period under the review but it could have been worse were it not for better performance in horticulture.
“The sector’s performance was cushioned from a steeper contraction by improved production in fruits, coffee and cane,” added KNBS.
Agriculture’s contribution to the economy dropped from 33 percent to 22 percent following the rebasing of the economy that was done in 2021 to capture a realistic picture of sectors that were then undervalued.
Official data indicate that about 337,000 Kenyans are formally employed by agriculture which is the second largest after Education which employed 609,000 Kenyans at the end of 2021.
Despite its contribution to GDP the sector is among the lowest in wages estimated at Sh27,280 per month only beating real estate and the water and sanitation sector.
The economy expanded by 4.7 percent in the quarter- the slowest quarterly expansion since the first quarter of 2021-down from 9.3 percent recorded in the same quarter of 2021.
The slowed down expansion was blamed in contraction in key sectors such as agriculture and mining activities.
Over the quarter Accommodation and food services recorded the most impressive performance growing by 22.9 percent followed by trade which posted a 9.1 percent growth.
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