A comparison of maize production in Kenya before and during liberalisation period

Abstract

Maize is the main food crop grown in Kenya. It is plant¬ed on 90% of all Kenyan farms and together with it's commonly intercropped crop, beans, occupies over 22% of all farmed land. In addition to being the staple food, maize production is also a source of capital and employment to a majority of the rural people. Total maize production, yield, area planted and average an¬nual rainfall before and after market liberalisation is compared. Statistical analysis showed that both yield and total maize production increased significantly after the input and output market liberalisation while area planted with maize and average annual rainfall did not change significantly. Both yield and total production of maize show less variability in the liberalised period than before. These observations led to the conclusion that input and output market liberalisation policies could have led to increased yields and therefore increased total production of maize in general in Kenya.