Who gets access to land in #Kenya's Nanyuki Area? Find out through our new paper on a full inventory of large agricultural investments in the region we developped together with our Kenyan colleagues bit.ly/3eHM4Gg #decolonizescience 
Many experts agree that more agricultural investment is needed in the global South to improve local #foodsecurity and reduce #poverty. However, there is a lack of consensus about the types of investment needed to achieve these goals.
We inventoried a total of 48 active farms and ranches in the area and conducted two rounds of semi-structured interviews with 33 owners, directors, or managers of large agricultural investments.
Only thanks to the long-time involvement of some of our Kenyan research partners in the study area, it was possible to obtain access to the investments and collect first-hand information.
We found that most investments in the study area were undertaken by domestic actors: 88 % of the investors were citizens of Kenya. Five investors were from the UK, Ireland, France, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, but partnered with local investors in order to register a company.
Demand for horticultural products in Europe and the Middle East is a key factor that has profoundly shaped agricultural business models in the study area over the last 20 years. It determines the types of crops grown and the conditions of production.
Access to land and water strongly influences the “where” and “how” of production. Access to land for new commercial farms is limited, and this is pushing the sector towards more intensive production of higher-value goods.
Labour availability characterizes the various business models observed. The 33 investments in the study employed 8200 workers in total, 70% on permanent contracts. Notably, 49% of the permanent workers and 62 % of the seasonal workers were #women.
However, the jobs of temporary and seasonal workers, in particular, are not secure. At the time of the interviews in early 2016, several vegetable farms had to scale back their operations and dismissed workers due to a drought in the area.
Notably, we found only a few cases of contract-farming arrangements in vegetable production, but no such arrangements in the production of flowers or field crops. The results confirm earlier findings on Kenya’s horticulture sector showing that contract farming is under pressure.
We recommend that 1) Clear land tenure rights and mechanisms for accessing land should be given priority in policies on agricultural investment.
2) Policies promoting agricultural investment should prioritize investments that are capital and labour intensive, environmentally sustainable, and require only modest land resources.
Finally, policymakers should be aware that creating a cluster of highly specialized commercial farms is not an easy process and cannot be easily reproduced in other countries or regions where certain preconditions are not met.
Thanks to the entire team of the #Afgroland project, the funders, and the respondents who took their time to participate in the interviews! Enjoy reading the full paper! @threadreaderapp unroll
