Kenya can easily achieve food security

By FLORENCE WAMBUGU

Kenya relies on only 10 per cent of its landmass for food while 89 per cent, home to 36 per cent of the population, is arid and semi-arid, and over three million people are severely food-insecure.

The country’s food is produced by millions of smallholder farmers on land as small as a quarter of an acre, practising rain-fed agriculture using inefficient traditional farming methods. The result is record shortfalls in food supply due to poor harvests. Irrigation could help but only 19 per cent (105,000 hectares) of our potential has been developed.

Agricultural production in developed countries is profitable because of higher productivity. We produce two tonnes of maize per hectare compared to global averages of four — and 12 in the United States. Average sorghum production in Kenya is one tonne; in the US it is 10.

INCREASED IMPORTS

Spikes in staple food prices and increased imports have led to the rise in our import bill by 12.55 per cent to Sh109 billion in June.

The bulk of these are staples such as maize, wheat, rice and sugar that can be produced locally. Maize imports increased to nearly 800 per cent (1.2 million tonnes) last year and that of sugar by 655,500.

Transforming Kenya’s agriculture to reduce its food deficit and nutritional challenges is possible. For instance, banana production hit a high of a million tonnes of fruit a year in 1987 but halved in 1995 due to pests and diseases.

However, tissue culture (TC) banana technology and investment in good agronomic trainings have enhanced access superior banana varieties with enhanced pest- and disease resistance and increased yields from an average of 14 to 32 tonnes per hectare. Production has since increased steadily to 1.2 to 1.4 million tonnes yearly.

BIG FOUR AGENDA

Introduction of sorghum varieties and training of smallholder farmers in good agronomic practices has raised productivity even fourfold while linking farmers to ready markets, diversifying utilisation and increasing household consumption of the grain.

The aggregator model helped enhance access to mechanisation for land ploughing and grain threshing and increase volumes, assure quality and timely grain delivery to buyers, improving incomes. This can be applied to rice, beans, wheat, potato and other crops, enhancing production and productivity and reducing the import bill.

GREEN REVOLUTION

With food security as a key pillar in the ‘Big Four’ agenda for sustainable development, deliberate action to support adoption of early-maturing drought-, pest- and disease-tolerant varieties and the use of good agronomic practices, policy and capacity support to increase the use of inputs like fertiliser and other soil fertility approaches, increasing mechanisation and expanding irrigation are required.

The Green Revolution in India in the late 1960s transformed the country from dependency on food imports, mainly rice and wheat from the US, to self-sufficiency through drastic policy changes by decision-makers to invest in agricultural production by reallocating the funds spent on food imports.

Investment in agriculture and participation of all stakeholders for enhanced results and sustainability are, therefore, key.

Dr Wambugu is the chief executive officer of Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation International. fwambugu@africaharvest.org.

Source: Daily Nation