Stop begging for food, Kenya told

Planting time in Kenya’s Rift Valley province: Kenya and other African countries have been urged to stop begging for food aid because the region has ample land, water and a favourable climate to grow its own food. Photo/FILE

Kenya and other African countries have been urged to stop begging for food aid as it is an affront on their dignity, a report says.

The region, says the United Nations’ African Human Development 2012 report, had ample land, water and a favourable climate to grow its own food.

However the report, launched on Tuesday by President Kibaki at the UN offices in Gigiri, says despite all this, the continent was still grossly food insecure.

Sub-Saharan Africa, it says, had also done badly in reducing malnutrition, with more than one in every four Africans undernourished.

Food security, it says, could only be achieved through instant action in four critical areas.

They include raising farm output, improving nutritional awareness, building social protection and safety net programmes such as crop insurance and cash transfer schemes.

Governments should also enhance the capacity of vulnerable groups like women, who play a major role in food production.

On Tuesday, Dr Tegegnework Gettu, director of the UNDP’s regional bureau for Africa as well as Ms Helen Clark, a former New Zealand Prime Minister, said they were disappointed that impressive GDP growth rates had not translated into elimination of hunger and malnutrition.

“It’s a harsh paradox that in a world of food surpluses, hunger and malnutrition remain pervasive on a continent with ample agricultural endowments,” said Mr Gettu, in a summary of the report findings.

“Misguided policies, lack of political commitment and weak institutions are to blame for failure to attain food security,” he said.

“It is time people in the region understood Africa is not destined to starve…It will not if it puts in place proper policies,” he said.

President Kibaki said Kenya had made important strides towards enhancing food security in the last 10 years, leading to a reduction in the number of food-insecure Kenyans.

“These have reduced from 52 per cent in 2003 to the current 27 per cent,” he said.

The President said despite the report rating Kenya as one of the countries at high risk of food insecurity, reforms in the agricultural sector were bearing fruit.

He, however, regretted that more people had become dependent on famine relief due to a growing urban population and droughts.