Kenya Agricultural Research Institute - A Task Force Report on National Agricultural Research Centre Muguga, 1990

Abstract

The productivity of Kenya's agricultural sector depends on the application of scientific knowledge in generating improved technologies and in effectively applying them to the production System. It is on the basis of these technologies that research and the extension services design and disseminate the necessary advice and production packages for farmers. After the collapse of the East African Community (EAC) in 1977, it became necessary to create the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) through on Act of Parliament, to advice the government on matters pertaining to Science and Technology. One of the first crucial task to face the NCST was to advice the government on the future of the scientific institutions affected by the collapse of the EAC. The NCST advice to establish semi- autonomous statutory research institutes was lauded as the most promising option for strengthening scientific research institutions in Kenya. Consequently the Science and Technology (Amendment) Act, 1979 gave Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) its legal status. In the process of implementing the Act, plans to integrate the former East African Community research activities coordinated from Muguga with those of the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and those of Ministry of Livestock Development(MLD) did not materialize immediately. Consequently activities of the envisaged broad-based KARI became confined to the operational and administrative set up at Muguga. However, due to inadequate coordination, the productivity of the National Agricultural Research system continued to decline. The system was therefore reorganized by merging the Scientific divisions of MOA and MLD with KARI Muguga to create a new KARI with a major effort in agricultural and livestock research to meet the objectives of the National Food Policy as outlined in the Session Paper No.1 of 1986. It was against this background that the National Agricultural Research Project (NARP) document was written in order to rationalize KARI's research programmes and assign responsibilities.