Posted on September, 23, 2019 at 10:02 am
By Daily Nation EDITORIAL
The looming food shortage once again underscores the country’s unforgivable inability to deal decisively with a perennial problem.
There is absolutely no reason why the country, the backbone of whose economy is agriculture, should at any time be unable to feed its people.
But the biggest paradox is the predictable swing from times of glut to seasons of want.
According to official projections, only 33 million bags of maize are expected to be harvested, compared to the 44 million bags that the farmers got last year. The target was 52 million bags.
The causes are nothing new. Farmers are growing less maize, partly due to the frustrations they face.
The worst was last year, when cartels imported maize from neighbouring countries, filling up the National Cereals and Produce Board stores before the Kenyan harvest was due.
CHALLENGES
Local farmers suffered humiliation by being turned away with their produce, with their efforts and investment going down the drain.
Not surprisingly, the land under the crop fell from 2.2 million hectares last year to 1.5 hectares.
The other factors are drought and a Fall armyworm invasion. The pest has a voracious appetite, devouring crops.
But since the first attack, not enough efforts have been made to tackle it.
As for drought, plenty has been said about the need to break the heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture.
However, irrigation schemes have failed to take off, heavy investments notwithstanding.
The National Drought Management Authority says more than 2.6 million Kenyans are facing starvation.
But as we have argued before, it is time Kenyans learnt to diversity their diet away from ugali, whose shortage translates into hunger and starvation.
After all, there are many other crops — including potatoes, bananas and even millet — that are potential alternatives to keep away hunger.
Source: Daily Nation