News
Food crisis looms in the region in spite of current season of bumper harvest
Workers at a Kenyan dairy plant spill part of 10,000 litres of milk this month, saying the factory’s capacity had been overstretched. Photo/FILE
Posted Monday, February 22 2010 at 00:00
Ibrahim Maalim, an official of the Ministry of Special Programmes, said for food security to be achieved, food has to be available and affordable.
The worst affected have been residents of arid and semi-arid areas, as well as the poor living in rural and urban areas.
Ruth Oniang’o, a professor of Food Science and Nutrition at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, said this has led to a drastic rise in cases of hunger and malnutrition.
She said that about a decade ago, the rate of malnutrition amongst children under five years stood at 18 per cent but has since risen to the current 35 per cent. Adults are also affected.
The private sector has not been spared the spillover effects of food insecurity in Kenya.
In an effort to cushion poor farmers through supply of cheap inputs, the government took upon itself the role of importing farm inputs for farmers under the stimulus programme.
This strategy has been criticised, not only because it is not sustainable, but because it has affected private enterprises engaged in sale of farm inputs.
However, a director in the Ministry of Agriculture, Johnson Irungu, defended bulk purchasing of inputs by the government, saying it had lowered prices by breaking cartels of middlemen.
.
