Queries as Qatar seeks to grow food in Kenya

• Ruto denies knowledge of the deal while his PS welcomes the concept.
• Other Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have also been negotiating leases of large tracts of farmland in countries such as Sudan and Senegal.
• Qatar has already reportedly struck deals this year to grow rice in Cambodia, maize and wheat in Sudan and vegetables in Vietnam.
  

Kenya will lease out 40,000 hectares (about 100,000 acres) of land to a Gulf state to grow food at a time when the country is facing serious food shortages.

The deal with the government of Qatar is similar to a model that has been widely criticised by agricultural experts worldwide and mainly involves poor African countries and rich nations or corporations especially from the Middle East.

Second port

In the Kenyan case, Qatar will, in exchange for the land, fund construction of a new Sh2.4 billion port on Lamu island to serve as Kenya’s second port after Mombasa. The deal was struck during President Kibaki’s visit to Qatar in late November.

At the time, the Presidential Press Service only revealed that the government of Qatar had agreed to fund construction of a second port in Lamu at a cost of Sh2.4 billion and that the Gulf state had expressed interest in obtaining land in Kenya to grow food but the acreage was not given.

But it has now emerged that the land in question is part of the fertile Tana River delta in Coast Province, the same stretch where plans by Mumias Sugar Company to build a sugar factory have raised objections from pastoralists claiming that their animals will lack pasture and the environment will be destroyed.

Agriculture minister William Ruto said he was not aware of the deal and could, therefore, not comment on it. His permanent secretary, Dr Romano Kiome, however, welcomed the concept, saying Kenya needed to attract more investors.

He said: “I can confirm that it works in other countries and why not in Kenya?”

Eastern Africa Farmers Federation Union president Philip Kiriro questioned the rationale of the Government.

“Are we saying that a foreign government can produce food here and feed its own people and the Kenyan Government cannot support us to feed ourselves?” he asked.

According to the Guardian News and Media of London, the deal is the latest example of wealthy countries and companies trying to secure food supplies from the developing world.

Other Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have also been negotiating leases of large tracts of farmland in countries such as Sudan and Senegal since the global food shortages and price rises earlier this year, the group’s website reported.

The deal is a reminder to another controversial agreement between President Kibaki and the then Prime Minister of Thailand, Mr Thaksin Shinawatra, who was later deposed, for Kenya to export wild animals to Thailand.

But conservationists and politicians opposed the deal saying it would deny Kenya tourism revenue as visitors from Thailand who might have preferred Kenya for its wildlife would not visit.

There were also questions about whether the animals to be exported could withstand the long distance between the two countries. Eventually, the deal fell through and has not been mentioned again.