Kenya among food crisis nations, UN

• Country among 31 others in need of external assistance to fight hunger, poverty

Kenya is among 31 countries in crisis requiring external assistance, because of lack of resources to deal with critical food security problems, the UN has said.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said Kenya is facing an exceptional shortfall in aggregate food production or supplies as a result of crop failure, adverse weather and lingering effects of the post-election violence of 2008.

Mr Hafez Ghanemm, FAO’s assistant director-general, said over 20 million people in East Africa need emergency assistance due to poor rains, increase in conflicts, trade disruptions and continuing high food prices.

He said Kenya’s maize production is expected to be 30 per cent down compared to last year and about 3.8 million people, mainly in pastoral and marginal agricultural areas, are highly or extremely food insecure.

“For the world’s poorest people who spend up to 80 per cent of household budgets on food, the crisis is not over. It is a global priority to increase investment in developing countries’ agriculture to fight poverty and hunger,” he said in the Crop Prospects and Food Situation report.

The report released ahead of the summit on food security to be held in Rome from November 16 to 18, warns that food prices in poor net importing countries still remain stubbornly high, despite a good 2009 world cereal production.

Fallen

FAO said that although international food prices have fallen significantly since their peak a couple of years ago, wheat and maize prices strengthened in October 2009 and rice export prices are still way above pre-crisis levels.

FAO will host the summit that aims to secure a broad consensus on the immediate reduction of hunger by boosting public and private investment in agricultural development in poor countries.