Act quickly to avert looming food crisis

By Editorial - Daily Nation

The country once again stares at the spectre of a food crisis. The latest information from the National Drought Management Authority paints a distressing picture. Some 2.6 million Kenyans face starvation, from 1.6 million in February, underpinning the impact of the worsening drought on various parts of the country throughout the year.

This calls for pre-emptive and quick actions to avert a looming humanitarian crisis. The government, international humanitarian agencies and the civil society must act fast. Already, there are early signals that things are getting worse by the day and it behoves the government and other stakeholders to take action. Targeted relief food operations must begin immediately.

Rains have begun in some regions, but the impact of drought remains profound. The dry spell in many parts of the country for most months this year is bringing to bear on food security. Planting started late as rains delayed and, when it came, the quantities were pathetically low. Once the planting season lapses, produce declines with disastrous effects on the population.

Although most of the worst-affected areas are within the arid and semi-arid zones, including Turkana, Mandera, Wajir, Baringo and Marsabit, potentially productive are equally scorched. Our concern is the predictability of drought and food crisis. Every so often, the country is pushed to the precipice by food insufficiency that results from inappropriate policies, poor planning and faulty agricultural and marketing practices. Many people are consigned to hunger because of inability to practice proper agriculture.

At the family level, there is declining farm productivity due to lack of cash, land scarcity and weak land tenure system. But matters are getting worse at the government level where agricultural productivity has taken a nosedive. Crop production has fallen substantially due to poor agricultural practices. Recent efforts by the government to beef up food security have come to naught.

The government has prioritised irrigation to move away from the traditional rain-fed farming. But not much has come out of it precisely due to corruption, pilferage and mismanagement. The moribund Galana-Kulalu irrigation project intended to raise food production, generate water for human and wildlife consumption and spur economic growth. The billions of cash allocated in recent years to build dams and harness the waters for irrigation and food production in the dry areas has been stolen.

For now, the government must address the ravaging food shortage through rations to the affected populations while working on a long-term strategy to end the vicious cycle of scarcity.

Source: Daily Nation