Agriculture & Microenterprise Development

Tegemeo Agricultural Monitoring and Policy Analysis (TAMPA) Project

Tegemeo Agricultural Monitoring and Policy Analysis (TAMPA) Project is a USAID funded, project between Egerton University’s Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and the Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University. The project’s main objective is to provide empirical research and analysis of agricultural policy that revolves around the widely accepted goals of productivity and income growth, poverty reduction, enhanced food security, and environmental sustainability. This is particularly important when agricultural systems have over time been exposed to dramatic changes such as structural adjustment, market liberalization, and the introduction of new technologies. 

Project Objectives

The broad goal of the TAMPA project is to improve agricultural policy formulation in Kenya, through practical applied research and analysis, policy outreach activities, dissemination of timely information to local stakeholders, and capacity building activities in the area of policy research and analysis. The specific Objectives of the project are to:
* Provide solid policy analysis to guide agricultural sector policy formulation;
* Monitor household income and its determinants over time in a cost-effective manner;
* Nurture the development of transparent policy dialogue involving a range of stakeholder groups, and to inject salient empirical information into this dialogue through on-going research;
* Increase local capacity primarily through in-service training and collaborative research;
*  Provide information on topical issues requiring urgent attention.

Key Results

The following were the key areas of study identified at the inception of the project and the key achievements to date:

* Monitor changes and developments in agriculture by tracing and monitoring welfare, income and income component changes of households, through the use of easy-to-collect proxy variables. The project has over the last six years formed a household panel data set that measures income and other household indicators that are used to evaluate policy changes in the country and more particularly the performance of some of the elements of USAID’S strategy in its agriculture and microenterprise portfolio in the country
* Promote policy dialogue and advocacy among farmers; civil society, government, private sector and parliamentarians to enhance agricultural productivity and the transformation of Kenyan agriculture.
* Sensitise the Parliamentary Committee on Agricultural, Lands and Natural Resources and other parliamentary lobby groups on policy issues pertaining to commodities and sub sectors in agriculture and environmental matters through seminars and workshops. In such meetings the parliamentarians have been exposed to the potential gains and the negative effects of certain policies that are usually under their consideration before such issues are presented to the floor of parliament for discussion.
* Participate in the preparation and formulation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) consultation process in the secretariat, the Sector Working Groups and in providing the empirical information on key issues in agriculture that have poverty reduction implications.
* Assist the establishment of a private sector lobby group under the name of Kenya Private Sector Association (KEPSA), which the TAMPA project continues to engage with. Through the process, individual private sector firms involved in activities such as dairy processing, maize milling, horticulture and others now have gained confidence in working with government and other civil society organizations
* Participated in the preparation of the Kenya Rural Development Strategy (KRDS). The strategy is a long-term vision of sustainable and equitable development of the country over the next 15 to 20 years.
* Sensitising the Constitution Review Commission of Kenya (CRCK) on the role of agriculture in the general economy and the role the constitution could play in empowering producers and consumers.
* Developed a cost effective and easy to use tool to monitor interventions by the Non Governmental Organizations to estimate household incomes using income proxy method.
* The TAMPA project was also involved in the preparation of the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERS) 2003-2007. The strategy is the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) blue print for development to be pursued over the next five years. The project participated in the preparation the agricultural section of the strategy and was also heavily involved in the stakeholder consultation meetings leading to the finalization of the ERS.
* The project participated in the development of a monitoring and Evaluation Framework for the PRSP/ERS.

Future activities

In line with its broad objectives, the TAMPA project expects to undertake the following activities in 2004:

* The project intends to improve Tegemeo Institute’s human resource capacity through hiring initially three additional new researchers.
* Hold a conference on agricultural competitiveness, growth and poverty reduction in the first quarter of the year. Competitiveness provides an excellent opportunity to expand the country’s agricultural (among other) exports and hence increase household incomes and reduce poverty.  This, however, is dependent upon the efficiency and competitiveness of Kenya’s producers relative to actual or potential competitors.  The study and conference will facilitate researchers and government policy makers to discuss key strategies to be adopted in order to reduce costs in local production and therefore enable the farmers to compete in domestic and international markets and thus bargain from a position of strength rather depending on protectionist policies that raise prices for consumers or erode competitiveness in other sectors.
* Conduct an urban and rural household survey to monitor purchasing and consumption patterns, household incomes, expenditure, marketing channels for selected commodities and impacts of policy changes on the household behaviour.
* Conduct a rural household panel data collection to continue monitoring changes and developments in agriculture and other economic interventions such as the implementation of the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERSWEC) and the PRSP. The survey will be used to trace and monitor welfare, income and income component changes of households. In additions, aspects of rural household consumption patterns will be covered in this survey.
* Conduct studies on poverty dynamics in relation to access to productive resources.
* Conduct a study to estimate the economic impacts of AIDS using longitudinal data at household level with clear indication of AIDS, using indications such as the number of adult deaths among those in sexually active age group. 
* Launch of Tegemeo long term vision, mission, its strategic objective and intermediate results
* Launch of Tegemeo Institute’s Website