What will end hunger, put money in farmers’ pockets

Nation Media Group CEO, Joe Muganda with University of Nairobi's Vice-Chancellor, Prof Peter Mbithi during the Nation Leadership Forum on April 3. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Experts at the recently held Nation Leadership Forum, hosted by Nation Media Group and University of Nairobi, noted that the food security challenges the country faces can be corrected once and for all if decisive action is taken to produce more food and mitigate effects of drought.
  • The solution to the perennial food security challenges lies with farmers, Dr Robert Allport, the programme coordinator, Food Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Kenya said.
  • The Galana-Kulalu Irrigation project is one way of creating new bread-baskets. Also, numerous dams have been constructed or are still under construction despite legal and political hitches.
  • Jane Karuku, the managing director of Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL), identified lack of guaranteed markets for farm produce as a hindrance to farmers’ acquisition of funding especially from banks.

About every five years, Kenya faces drought that puts lives of millions of people at risk.

The drought has become cyclic with little being done to arrest the predicable situation. This time round, close to three million people faced starvation.

Experts at the recently held Nation Leadership Forum, hosted by Nation Media Group and University of Nairobi, noted that the food security challenges the country faces can be corrected once and for all if decisive action is taken to produce more food and mitigate effects of drought.

Dr Mary Mathenge, the Director of Egerton University’s Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development, reckoned that there should be close monitoring of the drought situation every time to pick out warning signs early.

“This would help in early importation of staple foods like maize to ensure people are food secure,” she said at the forum called to encourage dialogue on issues affecting the country.

The solution to the perennial food security challenges lies with farmers, Dr Robert Allport, the programme coordinator, Food Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Kenya said.

“There is need to provide quality seeds, offer quality advisory and extension services, ensure there is enough farming land even as real estate sector grows, open up East African markets for easy distribution of commodities and make farming pay as a business through adoption of technology.”

Panellists at the event on April 3 at the University of Nairobi. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

The government took blame for failing to put in place policies that boost food production.

Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Willy Bett, however, noted that the country is adopting agricultural technologies to improve productivity, empower agricultural extension officials, encouraging farmers to embrace farming as a business, easing farmers’ access to inputs and funding and creating partnerships between farmers and agricultural stakeholders.

SHIFT TO IRRIGATION FARMING

Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Eugene Wamalwa, said Kenya, as many other countries, is a victim of climate change but acknowledged there was need for the country to shift from overreliance on rain-fed agriculture to irrigation.

“The Galana-Kulalu Irrigation project is one way of creating new bread-baskets. Also, numerous dams have been constructed or are still under construction despite legal and political hitches,” he added.

Abbas Gullet, the Secretary-General of the Kenya Red Cross Society, stressed the need for long-term solutions such as government involvement in helping farmers replicate adopt drip irrigation for maximum water usage.

Nation Media Group's Editor-in-Chief, Tom Mshindi (centre) with Dr Isaac Kalua, the founder of Green Africa Foundation and Centum Director, Chris Kirubi, during the event. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Dr Isaac Kalua, an environmentalist and the chairperson of Green Africa Foundation, cited corruption and politics as major snags in government’s quest to help smallholder farmers.

Jane Karuku, the managing director of Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL), identified lack of guaranteed markets for farm produce as a hindrance to farmers’ acquisition of funding especially from banks.

She nevertheless encouraged farmers to embrace drought-resistant crops to create different staple foods such as sorghum, millet and soya. “Strategic reserves of other foods other than maize should also be put in place,” she added.

Dr Margaret Karembu, the Director, Africa office of International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), asked maize farmers to embrace drought-tolerant and insect-protected varieties developed using conventional breeding, marker-assisted breeding and biotechnology.