Let’s learn from past experiences

By Felix Okatch, via e-mail

We are lamenting on the drought situation, power shortage and hunger as if though this is the first time such events are taking place.

We have had worse problems in the past. The problems are due to vagaries of weather. They recur but we have never put in place measures to cater for such natural misfortunes. These events will recur if we do not manage them in advance.

It is important to use this lesson and put in place long-term safeguards to avoid future calamities.

As the wise men have told us in the past that floods, drought and natural calamities will always come but we need to use our ingenuity and past lessons to mitigate them.

As we do so, we avoid injury to mankind which comes as a result of hunger, death by floods, drought, and epidemic diseases.

In the case of water we need to build dams along rivers like Tana, Athi, Nyando and Budalangi so that the water does not go to waste during the next rain season.

We should also ensure all roofs of schools and churches have water tanks harvesting rain.

Countries like Egypt, Israel are dry but they have put in place water harvesting measures that keep rain and natural waters for drier seasons.

When it comes to tree planting, we are not taking advantage of tree planting days as before. The month of May was dedicated to this exercise. We only have people who want to appear in the Press as they plant trees.

In agriculture, we have supported subsistence and commercial farmers. Farmers need fertilisers and seeds. In Europe and US through the Common Agricultural Policy, they support farmers free of charge. But here, we take issues of liberalisation in the World Trade Organisation agreements as gospel truth yet that should not be the case. The last support initiative our farmers got was in maize production, the Guaranteed Minimum Return.

Farm prices of wheat and other cereals used to be predetermined to benefit and encourage the farmers. But now the Government has left the farmers to the vagaries of weather and agricultural products from the rest of the world.

Unless we act like happened in Europe, US and Brazil, we shall still be victims of food deficit and dependent on handouts from Word Food Programme. It is time to draw lessons from the Millennium Villages in Africa set up by the UN to reduce poverty.

Some of the villages are success stories . They address rural development and we need to learn from them if possible

I agree with sentiments expressed by the Speaker Marende that the achievement of Vision 2030 is in jeopardy with the current state of affairs. Kenya is reeling from one problem after another and unless the Government takes action, the vision will remain a mirage. What with the ravaging hunger and power rationing that is making lives difficult. How can we talk of vision 2030 yet the capital city has no water and electricity?

We are worse off than we were 20 years ago and getting worse. The Government must find ways of alleviating hunger by not depending on rainfall for food production and exploit other sources of electricity.

Our water towers must also be protected at whatever cost .

{Philip Mbindyo, Sawagongo}

 

 

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