MARSABIT – Testimonies from local farmers and agricultural experts show that teff farming is rapidly gaining popularity among smallholders and pastoralists across Kenya’s arid north. Its dramatic rise in adoption is directly linked to its exceptional climate resilience, inherent pest tolerance, high nutritional value for both humans and livestock, and surging demand across local and international markets.
Marsabit has been among the counties hardest hit by climate shocks in Eastern Africa. The region has suffered catastrophic, multi-season dry spells in recent years most notably a historic drought rated as the worst in 40 years across the Horn of Africa, followed by severe recurring dry shocks into late 2025 and early 2026 that pushed over 120,000 residents toward acute food and water insecurity.
During the peak of the crisis, tens of thousands of households faced extreme food shortages, with families in areas like Sagante forced to boil and consume wild medicinal leaves such as moringa (shaleda) just to survive. Up to 80% of local water sources and major boreholes dried up or broke down, forcing residents in remote areas like Dukana, Laisamis, and North Horr to trek 10 to 20 kilometers daily for scarce, brackish water.
Pastoralists lost massive numbers of cattle, goats, and camels, devastating the core economic lifeline of the region and leaving fields covered in animal carcasses. Failed rains over six consecutive seasons wiped out roughly 75% of livestock amounting to over 700,000 animals according to the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) while acute malnutrition rates among children under five spiked significantly past emergency thresholds. Following these catastrophic losses, farmers and agro-pastoralists actively pivoted toward drought-tolerant, fast-maturing crops including teff, fodder grass, and moringa.
This agricultural transition aligns with broader government initiatives promoting climate-resilient grains. The Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) has listed teff as a superior food choice for human consumption as well as high-grade livestock feed. The crop requires as little as 300mm of rainfall annually, thrives in temperatures ranging between 15°C and 35°C, and flourishes across diverse soil conditions that suit Marsabit’s environment.
Teff (Eragrostis tef) is a fine-stemmed, annual cereal grass native to the Horn of Africa, famous for producing the smallest edible grain in the world. Long serving as a vital dietary staple and major cash crop in Ethiopia and Eritrea, its cultivation has expanded rapidly into dry regions of Kenya like Marsabit as a high-value staple.
Farmers report that teff delivers double the financial returns compared to maize and other traditional cereals, serving seamlessly as both a subsistence crop and a cash generator. It is also increasingly embraced as an affordable alternative to wheat and rice amid high global grain prices triggered by international conflicts.
A field visit from Marsabit town to surrounding villages including Nyayo Road, Dakabaricha, and Sagante-Jaldesa in Saku Constituency highlights the crop’s growing footprint. In Dakabaricha, members of the Hamme Harda Farmers Marketing Co-operative Society Limited are actively harvesting their fields. Chairman Solomon Mulato shares that the group launched in 2016 with 62 members and has grown to 129 farmers working eight acres.
The co-operative initially grew maize and beans but switched to teff in 2019 after receiving targeted training and realizing Marsabit’s climate and soils were ideal for the grain. Former chairman and founder Mzee Gabriel Guyo notes that teff is native to Ethiopia, where it forms the backbone of the national diet. The crop matures in just 45 to 60 days, growing with the speed of grass and allowing farmers to secure fast financial returns. Once mature, it is harvested like grass and stored in traditional outdoor wooden granaries.
Teff commands high prices on the open market, with a single kilogram of clean grain selling for Sh300 to Sh350, while a standard 90kg bag fetches up to Sh30,000. For the current season, the Hamme Harda Co-operative expects to earn about Sh300,000 from four acres of teff, alongside another four acres planted with beans.
Beyond grain sales, teff flour is versatile, used to bake chapati, mandazi, cake, biscuits, and traditional delicacies like Fike and Anjera a fermented, spongy flatbread. The leftover husks and stalks are utilized as nutrient-rich fodder, which cows and goats consume readily during dry spells. Mzee Guyo adds that the crop residue left in the fields also improves long-term soil fertility and prevents erosion.
The success of the Hamme Harda Co-operative has made it a model for the region, attracting institutional support including a dedicated milling machine from the World Food Programme (WFP), as well as educational visits from university students and researchers. Chairman Mulato highlights that women and youth benefit significantly through expanded employment opportunities along the teff value chain. Local farmers, including Mama Mary Yatte of Nyayo Road and Mama Machu Kerto of Saku, confirm that teff products are now widely enjoyed by both locals and non-locals.
Agricultural experts strongly validate the crop’s technical benefits. KALRO Deputy Director General Dr. Felister Makini states that teff is significantly more climate-resilient than maize, millet, or wheat. The grain ranges in color from white and red to dark brown and produces high-quality flour for Anjera.
Dr. Harun Warui of the Heinrich Böll Foundation and Dr. Hassan Guyo Roba of The Christensen Fund (TCF) emphasize that teff is rich in protein, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, and dietary fiber, making it ideal for managing lifestyle diseases. Furthermore, it exhibits natural pest resistance and stores longer without spoiling, even when kept in basic traditional granaries.
Saku Sub-County Agriculture Officer Duba Nura, working alongside KALRO under the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project (KCSAP), attributes teff’s rising popularity in Marsabit to its extreme environmental resilience. He notes that other Kenyan counties cultivating it include Machakos and Narok, while on an international scale, it is grown commercially in the United States and South Africa.
Nura reports that KALRO has approved over 13 teff seed varieties for local farmers, including Marsabit 1, Marsabit 2, Lusike White, KisTeff 1, AilaRed, KIM-1, KIM-2, KisTeff 2, KIB-26, and KIB-27. In a recent season, about 2,000 farmers across 45 self-help groups cultivated 237.6 acres in Moyale and Saku sub-counties, with 185.7 acres confirmed by the Agriculture Department after heavy rains affected certain plots.
Despite localized weather challenges, the farmers harvested over 496 bags of 90kg each, generating projected earnings of over Sh15.6 million for the county. Addressing farmers’ requests for water pans to support supplementary irrigation, Nura notes that planning is underway, though teff currently relies primarily on rainfall. He continues to urge farmers across Marsabit and other dryland counties to adopt teff as a permanent solution to regional food insecurity.
