Farms: Advanced Soil Testing and Fertilizer Recommendation for Small Scale Farmers in Kenya

Increasing smallholder crop production to feed growing populations is an urgent challenge which requires affordable soil testing methods, fertilizer recommendations, and accessible fertilizers with the required nutrients. However, soil analysis for small-scale farmers in Kenya has been difficult and mostly non-existent, primarily due to inaccessibility, high costs and lack of awareness on the need to conduct soil analysis. The launch of the SoilCares mobile laboratories in 2013 is one approach that has brought significant awareness to smallholder farmers on the need for soil analysis, as well as making it more accessible. At the beginning of 2015, Bungoma County local government in western Kenya took the initiative to purchase three SoilCares mobile labs to provide affordable soil testing services to farmers in the region and promote balanced fertilization. IPI has partnered with Bungoma County to support the promotion of soil testing to small-scale farmers by subsidizing the cost of analysis to the first 500 farmers by 40%. IPI is also running fertilizer trial plots on individual farmer’s fields within the county whereby field days will be held to demonstrate to farmers the need for balanced fertilization. In addition, the IPI team will offer technical advice to the county and facilitate a monitoring and evaluation process to determine the effectiveness of the soil testing technique and factors influencing the adaption of soil analysis by farmers.