Corporate News
By SARAH OOKO, sooko@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
Kenya is likely to suffer grave food shortages arising from the effects of climate change.
A new study by the Jesuit Hakimani Centre (JHC) and the
Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) entitled 'Climate
Change & Food Security: Predictions from the Future' found that a
majority of small scale farmers in the country have experienced crop
failures, production declines and livestock deaths mainly due to plant
diseases and erratic weather patterns.
"If we do nothing, then we will face a catastrophe
in future and lack enough to feed the nation," noted Dr Elias Mokua,
Executive Director of JHC and Principal Researcher of the study.
Aside from the looming threat of climate change,
the study found that agricultural land sizes are also decreasing in the
country as a result of population growth and booming infrastructural
developments from the real estate sector.
"Even though my land is fertile, I want to stop
planting vegetables here and begin building houses as their demand is
high. This will bring more money," says Sam Kariuki, a resident of
Kiambu County.
His views echo that of many Kenyans from high
potential agricultural areas who were interviewed in the study. In a bid
to address this challenge, some development experts have proposed that
county governments ask families to live in storied houses so as to free
land for agriculture.
Out of the twenty five counties that participated
in the study, Kericho, Kiambu and Kisii had the highest number of
respondents (at 57.5, 55.7 and 52.3 per cent respectively) who were in
agreement with the idea. West Pokot, Isiolo and Migori had the lowest
scores at 18.5, 16.7 and 11.1 per cent respectively.
To further reduce pressure on agricultural land, it
has been recommended that the government should set aside land for
public cemeteries and prohibit families from burying the dead in their
homesteads. Implementing such a policy will likely be an uphill task as a
whopping 78 per cent of Kenyans interviewed opposed the idea.
The study also cited the emerging dominance of large scale farmers as another threat to food security in the country.
"These people have the financial resources and
expertise that allow them to easily control markets at the expense of
small scale farmers, who are the majority in the country," Dr Mokua
explained.
By producing in mass, large scale farmers enjoy the
economies of scale which allow them to reduce the prices of their
produce in the market. In addition, large scale farmers are more likely
to have high yields that suit market demands since they can afford to
get necessary farm inputs and technologies at competitive prices.
This serves to further increase the appeal and demand for their products.
As this happens, small holder farmers whose cost of
production is high, lose market or end up selling at a loss to make
ends meet. Without the cash, the small scale farmers whose yields are
already compromised by climate change effects - such as drought or
floods - lack resources to buy food and adequately fend for their
families.
“That’s why policies need to be enacted that will protect these farmers from the market forces,” said Dr Mokua.
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