Kenya

Date of Joining:

Friday, January 29, 2016

National Delegate:

Dr. Lusike Wasilwa

Nodal Ministry:

Director, Crops Systems-KALRO

Region:

Africa

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History

Initial thoughts of introducing sericulture in Kenya came with white settlers, who introduced the first mulberry trees around 1903, originating from Europe mainly used for production of fruits. Production of silk in Kenya was first considered in 1917 but did not take off as a result of various factors such as poor returns, lack of technical expertise and technical challenges. Kenya formally kicked off sericulture subsector in 1972, based on a technical cooperation between the Government of Kenya and Government of Japan, implemented by JICA in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, which took a period of about 10 years. During this period, commercial mulberry varieties were introduced and tested for their adaptability to Kenyan conditions. In addition, silkworm hybrids from Japan were acquired and tested for their potentiality. At the end of the technical cooperation, there was clear evidence that sericulture potential was high in Kenya, was commercially viable and had capacity to lift economic wellbeing of rural households.

Mulberry, Ex- Embu, currently growing at NSRC farm

Since then, the focus was sensitization of stakeholders on the potential of commercializing this sector in Kenya. Sericulture performed quite low and remained a cottage industry activity. In many times, the industry was not getting enough raw materials and relied on imports. Until February 2014, sericulture activities included establishment of mulberry feedlots, rearing silkworm, processing and marketing cocoons from smallholder farmers. Returns remained low and did not attract significant investment and support. Moreover, there was no policy or strategy to guide growth and development of this sector.

Sericulture research in Kenya is in transition from a production to a marketing orientation. The purpose of the National Sericulture Research Centre of KALRO is to generate and promote knowledge, information and technologies that respond to clients’ demands and opportunities. The Centre will deliver this purpose by developing technologies and innovations for demand-driven sericulture product value chains; developing and promoting markets and marketing strategies; facilitating and advocating policy options for enhancing demand-driven sericulture product value chains; strengthening the capacity for implementing integrated sericulture production; and enhancing availability of knowledge, information and technologies on sericulture product value chains research. The research focuses on the whole value chain from input supply to consumed products and disposal of by-products, rather than focusing only on commodities. In view of this, the thinking of the KALRO (NSRC) scientists has changed from “pushing of commodities” to “market responsive products” approach. In the “pushing of commodity” approach, production of commodities is driven by existing agricultural potential. In the “market responsive products” situation however, the purpose of production is to satisfy the needs and preferences of the consumer. In this case, the analysis and understanding of the consumer needs and preferences should be the basis for designing the whole chain, back to decision on what and how resource potential should be deployed. The results are designed to position KALRO (NSRC) strategically as the key driver for increasing productivity, commercialization and competitiveness of the sericulture sub-sector. This will in turn contribute significantly to the achievement of the agricultural sector growth rate of 10% per year envisaged in the Vision 2030. The achievement of this growth rate will significantly enhance the agricultural sector contribution to the GDP leading to the attainment of the 10% economic growth per annum recommended in the Vision 2030.

Majority of sericulture farmers depend on rain-fed agriculture, which is unreliable and unpredictable. Mulberry leaf production varies creating peaks and troughs that destabilise consistent production of quality cocoons. Limited research has been undertaken to identify best-bet options and guidelines for good agricultural practices thereby affecting production and productivity. Lack of entrepreneurial skills among the small-scale farmers has contributed to inefficiencies along the various commodity chains resulting in high transaction costs and consumer prices. The development of vibrant agro-based industries in industrial crops has not received due attention thus resulting in low industry investment with most products fetching low incomes for farmers/clients in the products value chains. Also the demand for environmentally friendly processes and sources of energy is on the increase, and compliance is a requirement for market access. In order to deliver on the expected results, the National Sericulture Research Centre is focusing on intervention strategies towards attainment of projected results.

In 2014, the Government of Kenya commissioned a feasibility study on the potential of sericulture in the country. Reports from the feasibility study described a sound foundation a sustainable establishment of the sericulture sub-sector in Kenya, citing the conditions favorable for such an establishment such as adequate soils (soil PH, water requirement, soil fertility, and availability of organic manure) and climatic (long growing seasons, temperature in potential areas) conditions in Western, Nyanza, Central, Rift Valley, upper Eastern and parts of Coastal (Taita Hills) regions.

Most suitable Sericuture areas in Kenya, 2015

Types of Silk

In Kenya, there are two species of domesticated silkworms, the Mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori) and Eri silkworm (Samia cynthia ricini). Eri silkworm was recently introduced in Kenya through a technical cooperation between Tosheka Ltd and KALRO to test their commercial viability. They are now permitted in Kenya for commercial production since February 2016.

Eri silkworm breeding at NSRC, 2016

Bombyx mori has existed in Kenya since the start of sericulture industry. However, Kenya is yet to breed a race adapted to Kenya conditions, ostensibly because there has been no national research on sericulture since the start of the industry. The International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe), a regional research agency bred a race that they have been promoting for production across Africa, which provides opportunity for the National Sericulture Research Centre to partner in breeding for Kenya specific silkworm.

Cocoon selection for breeding at NSRC, 2016

Apart from the domesticated silkworm, Kenya has a high diversity of wild silkworms that are highly underutilized. Species of wild silkworm reported in Kenya represent three Lepidoptera Families: Saturniidae, Lasiocampidae and Thaumetopoeidae. There are 58 species spread across these three Families: Saturniidae (19); Lasiocampidae (33) and Thaumetopoeidae (6). Examples of some species that are currently under limited commercial production

1. Anaphe pada: its host plant Bridelia micrantha (Euphorbiaceae)

2. Argema mimosae: its host plant, Sclerocarya birrea (Anacardiaceae)

3. Gonometa sp.: its host, Acacia sp. (Fabaceae) (see Figure 1)

Figure 1: Wild silkworms (Gonometa sp) in lower eastern Kenya

The National Sericulture Research Centre plans to expand utilization of wild silkworms in Kenya for contribution to thriving sericulture industry. NSRC will seek partnership with ISC to grow this line of sericulture.

Infrastructure

While attempts to establish a silk industry in Kenya go back beyond 40 years, a viable commercial silk industry has not been achieved. Past silk development attempts did not properly identify, promote and develop the potential of this sub-sector. Moreover the emphasis was on smallholder participation that could not achieve the quantity, quality and consistency necessary for the export market. Adequate infrastructure and the prerequisite capacity building for such a specialized enterprise were not undertaken. New approaches that simultaneously develop production capacity and market access are needed. The silk market in Kenya is still very low and limited, a fact linked to the low productivity, quality and quantities and inconsistencies of local production although sericulture has been around for over four decades. The market figures report are indicative and naturally lower than the reality since, like many other textile product, a lot is informally shipped into and out of the country without being declared to the authorities. So, the market figures could be better.

Statistics

The quality of cocoons in Kenya from 1974 to mid 1990s show potential for improvement as show in the figures below:

Figure: Raw silk productivity across the years in Kenya (NSS)

Resources

The Government of Kenya has initiated steps that should revive and catalyse the growth of the sector. The National Sericulture Research Centre was established in 2015 under the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization to initiate essential sericultural research system and develop innovative technologies, including overseeing establishment of effective sericulture business model(s) for the country.

Details of some of the different races introduced to the sericulture industry over the last ten years and their origin is given in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Silkworm races acquired during last twenty years

Year	No. of Races	Name of Race	Source	Year	No. of Races	Name of Race	Source
2014	2	ICIPE	ICIPE	2004	2	ICIPE	ICIPE
2014	2	CSR₂ X CSR₄	INDIA	2004	2	XxB	CHINA
2013	2	ICIPE	ICIPE	2003	1	QxB	CHINA
2013	2	CSR₂ X CSR₄	INDIA	2002	2	SxM	CHINA
2012	2	ICIPE	ICIPE	2002	2	QxB	CHINA
2012	2	CSR₂ X CSR₄	INDIA	2001	2	ICIPE	ICIPE
2011	1	ICIPE	ICIPE	2001	2	QxB	CHINA
2010	1	ICIPE	ICIPE	2000	1	TxC	JAPAN
2009	1	ICIPE	ICIPE	1999	1	TxC	JAPAN
2008	2	KxS	JAPAN	1998	2	TxC	JAPAN
2008	2	ICIPE	ICIPE	1998	2	NB4D2	INDIA
2007	2	SxS	JAPAN	1997	2	TXC	JAPAN
2007	2	KxS	JAPAN	1997	2	SxR	JAPAN
2006	2	SxS	JAPAN	1996	2	TXC	JAPAN
2006	2	ICIPE	ICIPE	1996	2	SxR	JAPAN
2005	3	XxB	CHINA	1995	3	NB18,	INDIA
		SxS	JAPAN			NB7	INDIA
		ICIPE	ICIPE			SRxKA	JAPAN

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