| dc.description.abstract | Pulses are the second most important source of human dietary protein and the third most important
source of calories for over 100 million people in rural and poor urban
communities in Africa. Its
protein is cheaper than the animal
-
based protein, making it highly competitive and important in
dietary regimes of poor people in Africa. For example in Kenya, pulses accounts for approximately
11% of the total daily
-
calorie requirements, only ranking second to cereals that provide about 45%
of the daily calorie requirement
.
Among the pulses, pigeon pea ranks second to beans, which is
among the most important staple crops in the country, with critical relevance to national food
security
equation. Pigeonpea
is one of the most popular sources of protein for many Kenyans
living
in drier regions (
eastern
, parts of Rift Valley and coastal regions)
, mainly the poor who cannot
afford to buy animal protein. However pigeonpea and other pulses including chickpeas and
cowpeas, are considered insignificant in the country to the extent that they are sometimes excluded
from
the Ministry of A
griculture reports. But faced with climate change that threatens food security
in Kenya, pigeonpea has gained significance due to its ability to withstand drier climatic
conditions.
In this regard, the
paper applied
the commodity approach to agricultural marketing to
describe the stages in pigeon pea marketing system in Kenya. The functions relevant to this paper
are value add
it
ion taking place once the commodity
leaves the farms and follows through
processing and marketing
. The date used in the study was collected through focused group
discussions with major stakeholders in the capital city of Nairobi.
Results show that in Kenya,
pigeonpea has three main uses for human consumption, namely; dry grain, dhal (split dry grain),
vegetables and some parts for animal feeds and wood fuel.
Of
the total country’s annual pigeon
pea production which averaged around 130,00
0 MT between
2008 and 2012, about 60% was
utilized as dry pigeon pea grain, and the rest in the
form of vegetable peas. About 60% of pigeon
pea growers in Kenya take their produce to
pigeon pea markets, selling about two
-
thirds of their
total production. T
he crop is marketed either
as dry grain, processed (split) dry grain (dhal) or
green (vegetable) pigeonpea.
Farmers perform minimal farm gate processing to their produce since
the market offers no premiums for it. Therefore,
improving the market structure
to reward value
addition through simple processing would be important in employment creation as well as
improving farm gate margins. | en_US |
