Green Dreams Organic Farming in East Africa

Todays Daily Nation Newspaper carried this story.

Food deficit: Things are not looking good

Publication Date: 3/24/2008

Although the skies have been overcast these past few days, and although the rain has fallen in some parts of the country, these are not auguries of good harvests this season, and the country is headed for acute food shortages in the next few months.

Besides unpredictable rains which have, in the past couple of years been falling at the wrong time, there are two other reasons for the looming hunger and starvation in many parts of the country.

The first one is the insecurity in Kenya’s breadbasket – the vast area in Western Province and North Rift where maize and other grains like wheat do well.

This region was badly hit by the worst forms of politically-related violence since December last year, leading to many of those who farmed the land being evicted, while arsonists had a field day setting granaries on fire without a thought as to what they will eat when the political fire in their bellies turned to cold ash.

This has had obvious implications. Some of those who grew food in the Rift Valley might not return to those areas. Most of the land where food is grown is, therefore, unprepared.

As a result, all the maize-producing areas are about to experience record deficits this season, and even if the weather pattern holds true, there is no likelihood that the situation will become normal.

The second reason is that the prices of inputs have hit the roof. The explanation for this is not clear besides the fact that for at least two months, it was not possible to bring in imported fertilisers and other inputs due to the violence.

According to experts, and by the Government’s own admission, the country may be faced with a five million-bag food deficit, wiping out the current grain reserves by August.

This is a grim situation. This country has faced natural calamities like prolonged droughts. Now, with this added hindrance of insecurity, murder and arson, it is unclear whether the Government has many options but to start seeking food aid early enough to stave off hunger.

What it cannot do is to sit on its hands and hope that things will look up. They won’t, any time soon, and the earlier it gets cracking, the better for the country.

It saddens me as we feel so helpless. If anyone had believed in Prep-Aid Famine Relief Seed Project we would have at least made a small difference.

Last week at a meeting with an Ngo who’s name I shall not disclose, the following happened.

We had been advised to go to the meeting by a foreign embassy reference. After about half an hour of my schpeel about the Relief Seed project (see Altruistic in categories) where it was clearer than daylight that this project was in response to the looming famine predicted due to the post electoral conflict. The guy said ‘There is plenty of seed in the country and the govt is trying to help with opening the seed vendor shops. ……………….There was no obvious visible evidence of wax in his ears,……………..yes we know there is seed in the country, our project sets out to purchase locally. But answer me this…………………when the internally displaced kenyans are returned home by the Red Cross, with a mattress per family, a bale of maize meal and a bucket,……………returned to their homes that have been burnt down, ……………..where exactly will they find the money to buy seed?………………..surely!……..and this suggestion coming from a meeting where we had a govt official from the ministry of agriculture sitting in………nodding his approval……………and same time the front page of the local daily mentions the alarming rise in cost of seed and agri inputs and the disastrous impact this will have in our agricultural sector……………….

Oh and something even more disgusting happened as we were leaving his office……………as my cell phone had been switched off during the meeting, whilst heading down the hallway to the elevator I was reactivating it and accidentally stepped into someones office……………I apologised profusely and the fellow behind us said ‘No please go in, it’s ok to go in and say hello to a nice young handsome mzungu’…………it was the way he said it in his leary, sleezy accent as he eye balled me from head to toe……….and not for the first time either…….. that really made me mad. Where do these people come from, who do they think we are? How about some respect? ………..

Some folk just don’t get it