Food Security in Kenya - Assignment Example

Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Class Name: Date Assignment is due: Contemporary Global Issues: Food Security in Kenya Introduction Kenya, despite of it being regarded as one of the world towering giant in tourism and vast natural resources still lags behind in providing food security for its citizens. Kenya boasts of a glossy brochure image of tourism characterized by the presence of many tourist destinations. These destinations range from the cold breezes in the numerous beaches along the coast line. The animal reserves such as Amboselli, Serengeti, and other natural sceneries present all over the country. The Agricultural sector also flourishes due to favorable climate. This enables the country’s populace to engage in economic activities such as growing food crops and rearing livestock. Globe trotters can attest to this since whenever they visit the country, they are met with green plantations of maize, wheat, potatoes, tea, coffee, sugarcane and horticulture just to mention a few. It is also paramount to acknowledge dairy farming that is widely practiced in the country. Communities in this banana nation keep livestock of all kinds ranging from dairy cattle, sheep, camels, goats, among other animals. Poultry farming is also widely practiced. Businesses of all kinds take place in the country boosting the regional economy to a great extent. However, the question of why Keya still faces problems of food security still remains a mystery to people. This is informed by the fact that Kenya in 2009 was declared one of the world’s most dangerous locations in terms of hunger. In fact, the situation was serious forcing the leadership of the country to declare famine a national disaster. Despite formulation of numerous policies and enormous resources channeled to avert hunger, the problem is still eminent among a large percentage of Kenyans. Food security is not assured among most Kenyans. This owes to the fact that the problem is persistent in larger part of the country, especially Eastern, Coastal, and North Eastern part of the country. It leaves one wondering why the country faces imminent danger in food security despite the vast resources. Once, I overheard a concerned Kenyan Citizen asking where the rain began to beat a country that was once christened modern Canaan. A country which possesses the machinery and techniques that can engage in production capable of providing for its citizens has failed to meet its responsibilities (Eicher and Staatz 78). This paper, therefore, seeks to unearth he problems inherent with the Kenyan system that causes food insecurity. The research paper will also look into other factors such as climatic factors that affect the cause food insecurity in the country. Cause of food insecurity Recent years have seen over three million people in Kenya depend on international- food aid. The country has seen many food agencies such as World Food Program, USAID, and among other agencies to chip in to assist curbs the situation. In this section, I will discuss the factors that lead to food security situation in the country. First and foremost, the country faces occasional droughts. This is due to the fact that the seasonal rains in some parts of the country fail and, therefore, hampering the agricultural sector a great deal. The seasonal rains in parts of the country, for instance, Eastern, North Eastern, and Coastal region have caused poor production of food crops. In these regions, agriculture hardly flourishes and the communities living around are often hit with constant hunger. However, in other regions of the country, for example, in a province called Rift Valley and Central have favorable conditions where food crops grow in plenty. These two provinces have been termed as the backbone of the country’s economy. A number of researches including the one done by the Stockholm Environment Institute indicate that the Kenyan government is unable to cope with the variability in climate that has been persistent over the years, This in effect has cost the Kenyan economy a great deal and, therefore, affecting its growth domestic product by more than two percent. Moreover, the issue of unproductive land is another problem to food security in Kenya. The infertile soils of arid and semi-arid areas cannot favor production of food and can hardly sustain the survival of livestock rearing. Millions of nomadic and pastoral communities who inhabit this areas struggle to protect their livestock from the harsh and persistent drought. Surveys indicate that these areas in the past and now have been hit hard by famine. Secondly, besides attributing the food crisis to the exceptional weather pattern, which is its immediate cause, many years of mismanagement of the agricultural sector, has equally led to the situation. The leadership in this sector is to blame because they not only fail to formulate sound policies that streamline the sector, but they are also inept in their roles. According to research carried out by the United Nation Development, average Kenyan including children has not been able to enjoy improved nutrition in the past twenty years. The economic policies that govern the rural areas are fragmented across the government departments. This leaves the small- scale farmers are often left with a limited access to technical advice, credit as well as direct financial support. The lands rights on which these cultivations are carried out have been unsettled by the overt political interferences. Consequently, the government has a weak system characterized by ineffective disaster management policies. For example, in a place known as Turkana District and larger part of North Eastern, people die of hunger yet the government claims that there is enough food in the national food reserves. This is true at times because the food available in the national reserves fails to reach the affected people because of poor ways of distribution. In other instances, the officials bestowed with the responsibility of guarding food reserves have instead turned out to be corrupt. Poor infrastructure is also another problem that the agricultural sector has to contend with. The poorly constructed roads and other means of transport hinder the transportation of food from the productive areas to the worst hit areas as well as government reserves. In a nutshell, we can argue that the government and other supposed stakeholders have failed to support production of food crops in large quantities in regions that are favorable and arable. These areas in effect are rendered unable to contend with the demographic factors. Consider a place such as Limuru which is not far from the capital city Nairobi where the production of perishable foods takes place, the foods will not reach the populace of a drought stricken place like Kakuma in time because of poor infrastructure in place. Instead, the food in Limuru rots and the hungry population in Kakuma suffer from extreme hunger even too death. Besides the factors that we have seen above, food security is also not guaranteed in Kenya because of the ever increasing population. In the year 2009, the census carried out in an effort to ascertain the Kenya’s population indicates that it had increased by 35%. This translates into a figure of around 38.5 million citizens. Consequent this not only assert pressure on families that depend on farming as a way of living to search for higher yields, but also subdivide lands into smaller units as dictated by culture of land inheritance. The subdivision of already scarce productive lands leaves one with barely enough to cultivate on. Overdependence on rain fed agriculture is also another concern of food security in Kenya. Kenyans have not yet fully embraced the technological changes in the agricultural sector. For example, practicing farming through irrigation can be a solution to problems of food security in the country. Irrigation farming will significantly cut down the effects presented by short and unreliable rain patterns. It is also worth noting that extreme rains such as La Nina and El Nino phenomena substantially affect food security in Kenya. There are other times, for instance, 2009 and 2010 when the long and short rains were adequate considerably improved the prospects for livestock as well as arable farmers. However, weather experts indicate that the region will be likely hit by La Nina season in 2011. This might render it hard for farmers and their livestock to recover from one period of hardships to another. In Kenya, most of the population that is affected by food insecurity and poverty is located in rural areas where most of the population resides. However, the United Nation agencies have established that urbanization of food poverty is rapidly growing in Kenya as a result of migration of most youths to urban areas in search of employment which in most cases turn out to be elusive. The reports also indicate that a significant number of Kenyan population live in unplanned city slums which have limited access to other basic services. With the escalating prices of food stuffs especially maize which is the staple food, many of these families spend nearly three quarters of their incomes on food. These are just but a few factors that contribute to the problems that have characterized food security situation in Kenya. The good news, however, is that food insecurity can be averted through different actions. Solutions to food security problems In this section, I will discuss some of the effective responses that need to be taken in order to curb fears of lack of adequate food. It is worth noting that these responses ought to be from the government, concerned stakeholders, as well the whole Kenyan citizenry. First and foremost, the land reforms policies ought to be done in order to put into use a large percentage of land that lies idle. There are initial steps that have been taken in this area in that the National Land Policy was passed in Kenya’s parliament last year. This was done with an aim of ending the unscrupulous misappropriation of land by the government officials at the helm and its subsequent arbitrary distribution. The National land commission, which is independent, in its functions ought to register land transfers and resolve disputes. The new regulations presented by the commission should also draw the limits on acquisition and ownership of land by foreigners and other private holders. The implementation of such measures deemed progressive will counter the vested interests. Secondly, the government should dig deep into its coffers to allocate substantial amounts of cash to cushion the agricultural sector. The government in the past has underfunded he sector leading to inadequate food production. For example, lasts year’s budget allocated 3% to 4% of its total budget to the agricultural sector. These funds are necessary in that it involves availing cash to farmers, credit facilities, and input and irrigation subsidies, among others. The scaling up of these programs will lead to notable differences in the sector. In addition, farmers ought to make tough decisions to reduce their vulnerability to extreme climate events. They ought to turn to cultivation of indigenous foods such as millet and sorghum as opposed to staple maize, which is not, ideal in dry conditions. Pastoralist farmers should also be encouraged to change their practices. They should invest in more resourceful livestock, for instance poultry and goats. It is paramount to come up with insurance schemes that are innovative in nature. Such extensive schemes include insuring assets such as crops and livestock. Conclusion The paper has looked into the problems that face food security in the country. The problems seem to range from unreliable climatic conditions, mismanagement in the agricultural sector, poor infrastructure, to the increasing population. The paper has also offered possible solutions to the problem of food security. Work Cited Eicher, CK and Staatz, J (eds.) Agricultural Development in the Third World. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press, 1984. . Read More