Africa should focus on food security

Nutritional analysis, soil science and pathology testing. If farming is not the first thing you think of when you come across these phrases, then you’re probably as oblivious as I was a few weeks ago.

Earlier this month, I was in Naivasha on an excursion that turned out to be more educational than I expected. Now I can start to understand the fascination with agribusiness and specifically where farming and technology intersect. I have to say though, I am not one of those people who boast of green fingers, neither am I endlessly captivated with watching plants germinate and flourish.

Therefore, my observations in this space are purely from a place of wanting to see the continent flourish and how agriculture contributes to the advancement of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).

Every time I speak or write about the impact of corruption, I make no bones about the fact that the most discomfort I experience is with its effects on the populace, that by condoning sleaze we are systemically increasing the gap between the haves and the have-nots and denying a significant portion of our citizens access to the most basic rights.

SDG number two on Zero Hunger calls on ending hunger, achieving food security, improved food nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture by 2030.

With fewer than 15 years to go, there is a reason why Kenya, and indeed the continent should be concerned that we are not making as much traction as we should be in these areas. I recall an old Economist piece that stated if potential were edible, Africa would have the best-fed people on earth.

Our continent has about 60 per cent of the world’s uncultivated arable land, most of it unfarmed. For a continent that is far less predisposed to natural calamities and a temperate enough climate that allows farming throughout the year, that our yields are 30 to 50 per cent of the global average is a shame, but one that offers significant room for improvement.

The vicious cycle between poverty (SDG number 1) and hunger is undeniable, with the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) citing statistics showing that nearly 870 million people worldwide experience chronic hunger.

Of the estimated 1.4 billion living in poverty, 1 billion live in rural areas where farming is the main source of subsistence diets. Furthermore, in some countries one in every three children is underweight. This is where the studies on food security get interesting.

Apparently, the world produces enough to feed its entire population of 7 billion people. However, people living in poverty cannot afford nutritious food for their families, making them weaker and less able to participate fully in economic activities.

When children are chronically malnourished, it leads to stunted growth, both mentally and physically, giving them a severely disadvantaged start to life, the effects of which in some cases follows them through their adult lives.

Poverty limits access to the high quality seeds, tools, fertilizers and water that farmers need to cultivate high yields. And when some manage to achieve decent yields, a lack of storage facilities and the infrastructure that are necessary to ensure timely farm to fork results in wastage.

On the basis of the ‘one dollar a day threshold’, 1.2 billion of the world’s 1.4 billion poor are living in developing countries and it is not a stretch to extrapolate that a significant number of these poor are on our continent. At the recent African Green Revolution Forum 2016 held in Nairobi earlier this month, it was stated that growth in Agriculture is 11 times more effective at reducing poverty than in any other sector.

Therein, promises were made by the public and the private sector, on the back of a Sh20 billion government commitment made to farmers over the next 5 years. If there is one tranche of funds that should be jealously guarded from the sticky fingers that accompany tax payers money, this is it.

When all is said and done, there is one thing that encourages me. That there are other private enterprises committed to growing sustainability.

Like Oserian farms which I had the pleasure of visiting not just for the beauty of their beautiful and exotic rose farms, but where I learnt how the use of hydroponics is ensuring conservation of Lake Naivasha, the farm’s involvement in the community to increase smallholder yields by campaigning for soil science and nutritional analysis and how we can all, in our own way, start to think of tech and agribusiness as complimentary.

We have a long way to go in our journey towards food security. Even we seem to be slowly but surely turning the tide on the perception that farming is one of those things we only do when we are approaching our twilight years, we are nowhere close to achieving critical mass when it comes to regarding farming as cool enough to embrace technology and encourage innovation.

But this is why there exists immense opportunity for us as Africans. There are a lot of lessons to learn and many predecessors to learn from, and there is no time like the present to do it.