Many countries search far and wide for solutions to food security, yet part of Kenya’s answer has been quietly sitting in our fields for years. An old Indian proverb captures this idea well: “Bagal mein chhora, shehar mein dindora.” The child is under your arm, yet you are beating drums across town searching for him. I first heard this proverb more than two decades ago, and it has stayed with me because it reminds us that solutions are often closer than we think.
That lesson has returned repeatedly over the past three years as Green Africa Group collaborated with SCG International of Thailand and Kubota of Japan, not only in boardrooms but also in farmers’ fields across Kenya. Our objective was straightforward: introduce a walking tractor suited for smallholder farms while learning directly from farmers what they truly need. The experience has been instructive. Kenyan farmers are not asking first for complex transformation theories. They need timely quality seed, practical training, reliable tools and systems designed for the scale of local farming.
This past weekend offered a vivid reminder of that reality. While working with rice farmers in Mwea, demonstrations were held directly in their fields. The excitement among many farmers was unmistakable. They could immediately see the difference between exhausting manual labour and the efficiency that simple machinery brings. At the University of Nairobi’s Kanyariri farm in Kiambu County, we also took part in a ploughing contest using the affordable AgroPro 365 multipurpose walking tractor. The results spoke for themselves. When farmers are supported with the right tools, farming becomes both more productive and more affordable. Events organised by the Kenya Ploughing Organization quietly remind us that agriculture is a practical science best learned on the soil itself.
Agriculture remains a cornerstone of Kenya’s economy and the backbone of rural livelihoods. Yet Africa remains the least mechanised farming region in the world. Across much of sub-Saharan Africa, there are roughly two tractors for every 1,000 hectares of farmland. In India the figure is around forty. In Thailand it ranges between forty and sixty. In the United States it exceeds two hundred, while Japan records more than three hundred. In practical terms, one tractor in Africa often serves thousands of people, while in advanced farming systems it supports far fewer farmers. The difference is not merely mechanical. It is the difference between backbreaking labour and efficient production.
With proper mechanisation, improved seed and better farmer training, agricultural productivity across Africa could increase by between 30 and 50 percent. That improvement would not only mean higher maize or rice yields. It would translate into school fees paid on time, more stable household incomes and renewed confidence in rural life. In many ways, improving farm productivity is one of the fastest ways to turn rainfall into dignity.
Institutions such as the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) deserve recognition in this effort. For decades, KALRO has generated agricultural knowledge, developed improved seed varieties and promoted practical innovations aimed at raising farm productivity. In many respects, what we are rediscovering in farmers’ fields today echoes the lessons KALRO has been promoting for years. The challenge has rarely been a shortage of ideas. More often, it has been translating knowledge into consistent action that farmers can rely on.
Quality seed and timely inputs are essential to that transition. When a farmer receives reliable seed at the right time, along with practical training and the right tools, the chances of a successful harvest increase dramatically. Agriculture will always carry uncertainties, but strong foundations make the farming cycle far more predictable than it sometimes appears.
Leadership, after all, does not create value on its own; it protects, enables or destroys it. In agriculture, this means investing in farmer training, strengthening extension services, ensuring access to quality inputs and making practical tools available to farmers.
Kenya does not need distant agricultural miracles. The solution is already present in our soil, our farmers and our institutions. What we require now is coordination, humility and the discipline to act. Otherwise, we will keep searching across the marketplace for the child who has been under our arm all along.
Think Green. Act Green.