Pawpaws grown at Katilu Irrigation Scheme in Turkana County on February
03, 2014. Small-scale farmers also need training on value addition,
especially techniques enabling longer shelf-life for highly perishable
foods like vegetables and fruits. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
About 10 million Kenyans face food shortages at any given time. Among them, three million need prolonged food assistance.
Food security is when people have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy life at all times.
To
address food insecurity, Kenya must urgently implement the specific
intervention policies broadly defined in the new national food security
documents, by breaking then into three levels: production, distribution
and post-harvest management.
At production level, we
must address the challenges faced by small-scale farmers who meet over
60 per cent of national food needs.
New farming
methods are needed to mitigate declining soil fertility and land
fragmentation. Within a generation, net food production in high density
areas like Nyeri has declined by almost 70 per cent.
Needed
are specific interventions encouraging inexpensive technology like
water harvesting and chemical and organic fertilisers application.
Poor
distribution strategies and infrastructure compound the food problem.
This is familiar: food is rotting in Kinangop, but there is not enough
of it in lower Eastern province 200 kilometres away. Interventions must
hinge on how to move food from surplus areas to deficit regions as
cheaply and rapidly as possible.
In Kenya, the cost of
transport accounts for half the price of basic food in food-deficit
regions. Unless we reduce the price of fuel, food prices will remain
high.
POST HARVEST MANAGEMENT
Post-harvest
management is a serious problem in poor countries. Kenya’s food loss
ranges from 20 to 50 per cent, depending on the produce. This mainly
occurs between the farm and the retail point. Pests, rot, poor
treatment, and mechanical damage play havoc on food.
Policy
interventions should facilitate the adoption of low-cost storage
technologies. There is a need to link farmers with researchers in the
universities and state parastatals like Kari for training. There are
many appropriate storage technologies that can benefit farmers.
Small-scale
farmers also need training on value addition, especially techniques
enabling longer shelf-life for highly perishable foods like vegetables
and fruits.
A more difficult food security threat is the new trends in global food industries. The rising corporate hegemony on food systems is raising concern.
A more difficult food security threat is the new trends in global food industries. The rising corporate hegemony on food systems is raising concern.
Companies use patented technology and must recoup the heavy investment on research and development. This pushes food prices up.
The
food riots of 2008 around the world were not triggered by lack of food
per se, but the inflationary price increases caused by rapid integration
of food systems by multinationals and lack of focused policies on food
access.
In fact, FAO estimates that in 10 years, 70 per
cent of available seeds will be patented. There are fears that up to 90
per cent of the world hungry will simply not afford food because of the
high prices set by global agribusinesses.
We are
talking of a situation where farmers do not own the seeds, and can’t
make decisions in the food chain. And they have to buy only particular
seeds from specific companies. Worse, the seeds can only be planted once
because they come with a terminator gene!
Dr Mbataru teaches agribusiness at Kenyatta University’s School of Agriculture (pmbataru@gmail.com)
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