This archive report was first published on 6 August 2020.
Published on August 6, 2020
Food security is a fundamental right, but it is not just about having enough to eat. It is also about having access to safe and nutritious food.
Kenya has long struggled with food insecurity, often due to severe weather conditions that lead to crop failures and food shortages. However, there is a more insidious threat to food security: post-harvest waste losses caused by poor storage and weak marketing and distribution infrastructure.
Experts estimate that up to 20 per cent of crop yields are lost in the post-harvest phase through spillages during handling, inadequate storage facilities, lack of capacity for primary processing, and damages by pests and rodents.
Proper storage is critical, especially for grains like maize, which are expected to last through a farming year. Yet, this is where Kenya's incapacity issues lie.
The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) has reported that maize stock in the market is heavily contaminated with aflatoxin, making it unfit for human consumption. This is a serious concern, especially when millers are already complaining about stock-outs due to low crop production last year.
Kebs has done the right thing by sending out an alert, but more needs to be done. The government should conduct nationwide surveillance to identify where the bad stocks are and have them properly destroyed to avert the risk of consumers buying them.
The onus is on Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya and his team to streamline crop production and marketing to eliminate these dangers while ensuring food security.
