KENYA FOOD SECURITY

First lets gets the stats as they are:

-In 2008, an estimated 1.3 million people in rural areas and 3.5 – 4 million in urban areas were food insecure.
-October to December 2014 short rains were well below average, which caused food insecurity in the Southeast, the coastal lowlands, and pastoral areas. Over the next several months, the food insecure population rose to over 1.5 million people.

-2015. Under the forecast of a strong El Niño episode, which is likely to continue into the first months of next year, rains are expected at above-average levels until December, thus benefiting crops. However, exceptionally heavy rains could increase the risk of flash floods in low-lying areas, negatively affecting standing crops, livestock and destroying rural infrastructures.

-By August 2015, 1.1 million people were acutely food insecure. However this was not inclusive of post El nino crises. Agricultural production is expected to dwindle and comes a corresponding increase in food shortage

 My views: Food Insecurity is a problem purposely neglected by leaders 

Agriculture is the backbone of the Kenyan economy, and improving private, small-scale farms is essential to a broad-based, poverty-reduction strategy. Overall, 75 percent of Kenya’s population derives at least part of their livelihoods from agriculture, including livestock and pastoral activities. Agriculture accounts for more than half of Kenya’s GDP  

Kenya’s agricultural sector is characterised by small-scale farms that mainly produce to meet the requirements of their own individual households. As a result of rapid population growth, the impacts of climate change, and land and water shortages, natural resources are being overexploited and the country’s agricultural and food industries are facing major challenges.

Under the Vision 2030, the Government has identified the following seven flagship
projects for implementation during the next 5 years:
1.Agricultural policy reforms
2.Three-tiered fertilizer cost reduction
3.Branding Kenya farm produce
4.Establishment of livestock disease free zones and processing facilities
5.Creation of publicly accessible land registries
6.Development of agricultural land use master plan
7.Development of irrigation schemes. 

however  this visions are more achievable on the present turf and can give the present government a better image of having eradicated food insecurity. Over reliance on maize and maize production should be corrected. Rain water harvesting should be adopted especially in areas with high surface run offs.

It is said that currently we are Facing a "problem" of el Niño. But instead of working tirelessly to discard the water, efforts should be made to trap this water for irrigation and other uses.

I believe a country which is food secure should be on the right path to achieve vision 2030. However on paper it doesn’t look that much of an issue but on ground food insecurity is estimated to affect over 2 million people.

But if Kenya was food secure, our leaders would have one less thing to use for their selfish gains (-: