RESEARCH PROPOSAL.

INCOOPORATION OF MILLET FARMING AS MUCH AS MAIZE PRODUCTION TAKES

PLACE IN KAMENDI,TRANSZOIA COUNTY.

BY;

FLECIAH WANJIKU KAMAU

EAS/001/17

A Research Proposal Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the
Degree in Bachelor of Education (Agricultural Education) of the School of Education,University
of Eldoret.
DECLARATION.

I hereby declare that this research proposal has not been submitted by another award of degree

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Date Sign

Declaration by supervisor

I hereby declare that this research has been submitted by my consent of a supervisor.

_________________ ________________

Date Sign
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.

My gratitude goes to Dr.P.Ouma ,for his close supervision ,cooperation and useful criticism
during the entire period of study.

I am extremely grateful to my educational department and teaching staff for their constant
help ,concern and support during my course curriculum and research.

I extend my thanks to all the members of the Kamendi area for being resourceful during the
research period.

Lastly i owe my respectful and whole hearted gratitude to my parents Mr. and Mrs.Kamau and to
Edwin Ngugi for their love and encouragement which enabled me complete my work.
DEDICATION

Affectionately dedicated to my parents Mr and Mrs Kamau,Edwin Ngugi and my siblings

Abigael and Anthony.
INTRODUCTION

Finger millet (Eleusine coracona)is an important subsistence cereal grown mainly in relatively
dry areas of Kenya. The cereal is traditionally used for making foods like thin porridge ,stiff
porridge and local brew .It is one of the most nutritious cereals in Kenya. Though being a very
advantageous crop, farmers in the country shun away from growing the crop as a cash crop and
end up growing it in low quantities foe subsistence use only.
BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Finger millet (Eleusine corocona)is one of the most important small millet species in the arid
and semi-arid areas of Eastern and Southern Africa as well as South Asia and is grown in a
considerable area of Africa(Kiran,2012)Today, finger millet is grown in more than 25 countries
in Africa(FAO,2011) Finger millet can perform better under adverse soil and weather conditions
compared to other crops .The crops have a wide range of seasonal adaptations and is grown in
lands about 2,400m above sea level(ASL).Among the major food grains finger millet is one of
the most nutritious crops containing proteins ,minerals and amino acids (Methinine)
(Deri ,2011).In Kenya ,millet has a good demand for it is good for infant feeding, special dishes
for the sick and for other purposes such as brewing of traditional liquor among other people.

Finger millet has new varieties (P-24 and GULU-E) which are good compared to others because
they have early maturity (takes three months)and are less susceptible to head and finger earlying
disease(finger millet blast).They are easy to harvest as they grow to knee height in cold areas and
waist height in warm areas .They also have high yielding ability and threshing.(KARI,2018)This
therefore, enables millet to fetch good market prices.

Despite so many advantages ,it appears that finger millet has remained neglected compared to
other cereals like maize ,rice and wheat .Finger millet has been shunned off by farmers due to
many reasons such as planting where one makes furrows that are 30 centimeters apart and a
compound NPK 20:20:0(50kg bag per acre).It is applied then planting uniformly very little seed
(1kg/acre).It is then covered by loose soil then 1st weeding which takes place 2 weeks after
emergence,2nd weeding 2 weeks after 1st weeding and after mature harvesting .These processes
are tedious as compared to maize production where seed don’t require to be carefully placed.

In Kamendi area maize is commonly grown in the area. However, some farmers grow millet in
small numbers despite millet growing in the same ecological requirements as maize crop. They
shun from millet production yet millet fetches more market prices as compared to maize crop.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM.

Maize is a staple food in Kenya and so is it in Kamandi area.However ,over the recent
years ,maize production in the area has been faced with a lot of challenges(infestation of field
and storage pests and diseases) and have been forced to consult extension officers in the region
so as to help them establish the cause of challenges .Upon consultation, they have been advised
by the extension officers to substitute maize and finger millet in their farms because in spite of
the preferences of finger millet grain in Kenya the uptake both in the area and the country at
large has been declining instead of expanding. The factors which have contributed to the decline
is that finger millet has been neglected by mainstream research and production level ,where there
is a scant information on finger millet diversity.(Fakudin, 2011).The farmers in the region have
however shunned from production of finger millet and stick to maize production despite having a
high market (90kg bag goes for Khs 9,000)and maize costing (90kg bag goes for Ksh 3,300)and
despite having the same ecological requirements as maize.
PURPOSE OF STUDY

Identify reasons as to why farmers shun away from millet production.

Change farmer’s perspective on the production of millet in Kamendi area.

Sensitize millet production in the area.

OBJECTIVES

To change farmers perceptive towards millet production.

To promote the adoption of millet production in the area.

To determine the potential value of millet.

To sensitize millet production.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

What is your perceptive towards millet production?

How many people grow millet in this area?

Do you intercrop maize with millet?

What value does millet have to the people of Kamendi?

SIGNIFICANCE/JUSTIFICATION.

Increase in finger millet production is important as it is a cereal crop grown for its nutritious
grain production.

Evaluating the general production of millet in the area.

Impact knowledge to the farmers on the benefits which include market and nutritious value’.

Motivate farmers to take millet as a cash crop instead of growing it as a subsistence crop.

ASSUMPTIONS

Expect that people of the area (Kamandi) are willing to take part in the answering of research
questions and will give honest reviews and answers regarding millet production.

People are of sound mind and they understand everything concerning the research.
DELIMITATIONS

A farmer is not always after money gain .This explains the reason as to why farmers are not
interested in millet production despite its economic value.

LIMITATIONS.

Language barrier-People in Kamandi area are mainly Marakwet’s and know little to no Swahili
and English hence leading to the sourcing of a translator to translate the information which lead
to distortion of vital information.

Poor infrastructure-poor roads in the area that hinder direct connection to the farms of the
farmers.

Insufficient funds-where the people who are important sources of information require pay before
giving out essential information on millet production the area.

Culture-cultural practices in the area (women don’t thresh millet hence don’t see the need of
growing millet.)

DEFINATION OF TERMS

Inco-oporation –taking in or contain (something)as part or whole

Millet farming-growing a cereal grown in warm countries and regions which bears a large crop
of small seeds.

FAO-Food and Agriculture Organization.

ICRISTAT-International Crops Research Institute for the Semi -Arid Tropics.

ASALS-Arid and Semi- Arid Lands.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

Finger millet (Eleusine corocana) is believed to have originated in Uganda about 5000 years ago
and it was domesticated in Eat African Highlands around 1,000 BC and introduced into India
through trade that existed (Peterson 2011).The oldest known archeological remains were
excavated at Axum, Ethiopia and date back on estimated 5,000 years. These resemble the types
of highly evolved finger millet are still grown in Ethiopia . Cultivation of finger millet then
spread across the Eastern and Southern Savanna during the expansion of iron working
technology to eventually reach South Africa some 8,000 years ago (ICRISTAT 2008).

Millet is a robust tilering grass which grows in tufts (FAO 2012).The inflorescence of the plant is
a cluster of (4-19)fingers composed of dense spikelet’s where the grain or seed is produced and
the seed pericarp is independent from the kernel.(FAO 2012). At a regional level however ,there
are sharp differences in trends especially between the two main producers Asia and
Africa .Africa has had an improvement over the years where millet production levels have
increased from 8 million to over 10 million tons over the years (FAO 2010).

The increase in the production levels is due to the realization of how nutritious millet is for it
contains proteins ,minerals an amino-acids.(Devi ,2011).Despite these increases and despite
finger millet having a promising opportunity to improve nutrients availability to poor households
,maize still being a dominant staple food and consequently deficiencies in various proteins and
macro-nutrients are very common,(Chaiken ,2000).It is also rich in magnesium which regulates
various biochemical reactions that help in muscle and nerve functioning and also in regulating
the blood pressure.

In most regions of Kenya like Western Kenya , finger millet used to be among the most
important food crops but were widely replaced by maize over 20th century . Today the crop is
grown by a minority of farmers and suffer from poor reputation of being a “poor persons crop”
or a “bird seed” (Crowley ,2018).However ,finger millet has good marketing opportunities
especially in local easily available markets .While finger millet is considered a staple crop
farmers grow it for subsistence purposes .The demand for finger millet is high and the prices for
finger millet in Kenya are far higher than the prices of other cereals .Finger millet can be
processed into value added products like cookies or beer by the farmers themselves or by
processors at the local and national levels(Oduor, 2005).The crop therefore ,has the potential to
serve as a profitable cash crop for small scale farmers In Kamendi, Transzoia County.

In spite of the importance of millet to the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers in East
Africa ,its valuable nutritional processing properties, the growing demand exceeding supply, and
its regional and international research organizations and major donors to agricultural research in
Africa .this neglect has contributed to a lack of realization of the potential
productivity ,utilization and trade of finger millet in Kenya are currently a number of
constraints .the main constraint being fungus (Magnaporthe grisea) which affects growth stages.
(ICRI 2007)

Finger millet has been widely neglected by both researchers and policy makers in the past
decades yet traditional cereals like finger millet could make an important contribution towards
higher farm incomes and improved food security, reduce micronutrient deficiencies and small
holder adaptation to climate change in many regions .It is known to be a more nutritious plant
/crop and more resilient to poor or unpredictable agro- ecological conditions than cereals like
maize. The dissemination of modern technology in finger millet is still low but field trials
indicate that yields can be substantially increased using modern practices and varieties (Oduor,
2005).

Despite the neglect, farmers on a study survey on why they produce low millet produces they
identified that high labour requirements was a challenge to them especially for weeding
especially for weeding since 95%of the farmers use broad casting while planting .Diseases that
attack millet especially the blast diseases .Low yielding cultivars also make farmers shun from
millet production due to fears on looses that can be possibly incurred during production.(Journal
of Agricultural Science 2014) . In terms of cultivars ,farmers prefer the high grain yield ,brown
seed colour ,compact head shape ,tolerance to blast disease high tillering ability, moderate plant
height ,early maturity ,tolerance to shattering and ease to threshing without compromising other
preferred attributes .A considerable proportion of farmers have limited to no knowledge on
finger millet blast disease, its cause and mechanism of coping.(Food security 2016).This presents
the urgent need for information sharing with farmers and other agricultural development partners
,and continuous development of blast resistant cultivars with blast resistant cultivars with
preferred farmers attributes.
However ,over the years a lot of challenges have been witnessed on finger millet whereby the
millet is said to contain goitrogen substances that interfere with thyroid activity which after huge
consumptions may led to goiter .Also being a small seeded the crop must be planted in a well
made fine seed bedsat higher densities(especially if it is broadcast method)Subsequent weeding
is labour intensive compared to maize and is further complicated by wild relatives of the crop for
example Eleusine indica that look almost identical to the main crop plants at flowering stage
(Janke, 2017).Other production constraints include narrow genetic base, non- adoption of
available technologies ,lack of improved varieties and credit, weeds ,pests ,low priority in
research ,poor cultural practices ,limited uses and lack of commercial food products.

Transzoia, which has some of the largest numbers of poverty levels in Kenya would greatly
benefit from increased production of finger millet so as to improve the diet and contribute to
household income. Though this area of Transzoia is suitable for growing finger millet its
production levels remain low and farmers continue to achieve much lower yields than the
potential since the ecological requirements are suitable .This suggests that farmers are loosing
out on output due to production of inefficiencies.(Rop,2016)

The study has revealed that the crop has the ability to grow under adverse climatic conditions
such as ASALS .Strong cases have therefore emerged for stepping up the efforts towards the
improvement of finger millet production and boost food security in the country. Through
investment in Agricultural research, development and adoption of improved finger millet
varieties especially in the ASALS, food production would increase significantly hence leading to
reduced incidences of food poverty (Onyango 2016.)

My view on millet production is that farmers need to be educated on the importance of millet
production in large scale .In cases where for example land is not available to carry out
farming ,the county government can lease idol land tracts to farmers so that they can maximize
it through production of millet .Researchers need to work extra hard to come up with millet
cultivars that are more favorable and easily adopted by farmers for production .After the coming
up and adoption of the new cultivars and increasing the size of the seed so as to reduce millet
growing from being a tedious process that makes farmers avoid growing millet. Extension
officers should be deployed in production areas to educate and guide the farmers on how to
produce millet (timely planting ,time of weeding ,harvesting and storage ) effectively and by
minimizing input and maximizing output .In cases where the farmer lacks funds ,the government
should come up with an association that lends inputs to producing farmers of millet like that of
maize that mobilizes farmers to grow maize. This could at a large point fill up the gap of millet
production .
SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Secondary sources –information comes from books where citations are based on other authors
previous researches on millet

Primary sources-information is based on individuals who observed production of milletr in other

areas like the writers of the journal of Agriculture.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Maize production being a staple food is commonly grown in the country compared to millet.

Millet however has higher prices compared to maize whose price is regulated by the government
through NCPB unlike millet.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Millet is not commonly grown due to its high requirements during production however it is
likely to improve over the coming years since people (farmers) are realizing the many benefits
millet has over maize.