This archive report was first published on 6 July 2019.
Published on July 6, 2019, by Donates Njoroge, a renowned innovator and winner of the Global Innovation Through Science and Technology 2019 Award.
Kenya's food security challenges have been a persistent issue, with the country relying heavily on imports to meet its food needs. The government's recent announcement of a 12.5 million bag maize importation plan has raised concerns about the country's ability to produce enough food for its population.
According to Agriculture Chief Administrative Secretary Andrew Tuimur, the country needs to import maize to plug its perennial production deficit. However, this move comes at a time when the budgetary allocation to food security has been declining, from 3.5 per cent in 2016 to the current 2.9 per cent.
Smallholder farmers, who account for 50-70 per cent of job creation in the agriculture sector, have been neglected in the government's fiscal policies. The emphasis has been on industrial agriculture, which has failed to address the country's food security challenges.
With a reduced budget and insufficient food from smallholder farmers, market forces will adjust prices of food, making it unaffordable for the population. Food security is a critical factor in advancing national socio-economic development, and Kenya's fiscal policies need to prioritize the growth of smallholder farmers.
The government needs to turn to innovations that will hasten the growth of smallholder farmers. President Uhuru Kenyatta's legacy projects, such as manufacturing, universal healthcare, and affordable housing, will not succeed with a hungry population.
The route to Kenya's food security lies in the smallholder way. Past large-scale farming efforts have failed spectacularly, and the Sh7.2 billion sunk into the Galana-Kulalu project could have been better spent on uplifting smallholder farmers.
Universities have a crucial role to play in addressing the problem of rural household poverty through generating research around seed technologies, better planting methods, soil analysis techniques, and post-harvest loss management.
