Ending hunger, malnutrition needs political good will

Effective political leadership and governance, empowering women, improving rural economies and quality policies and strategies are key to ending hunger and malnutrition in Africa.

These among other interventions have been identified by agriculture experts and policy makers from around the world during their two-day workshop on the Global Action Plan on Agricultural Diversification (GAPAD) to address Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 2) to attain zero hunger.
The meeting held in Nairobi ended with participants calling on African governments to do more to address hunger and malnutrition.
Dr James Nyoro, former President Uhuru Kenyatta's advisor on agriculture, said lack of political will to support agricultural development, under-investment in agriculture and rural development and failed and non-sustainable global efforts are the main causes of hunger.
Nyoro, a food security expert called on the Kenya government to put in place early disaster warning systems to mitigate against hunger and malnutrition.
"About 23 counties in Kenya today have no food and those together with their livestock are dying. This should be happening in this age. We have all the solutions, what is required is coordinated implementation," Nyoro said.
He noted that poor government planning has led to unscrupulous business-people enriching themselves due to the current drought.
"It is a shame that farmers in Rift Valley are harvesting maize and beans and some of it goes to waste while other Kenyans are dying due to lack of food. Government should seal those loopholes that lead to such situations and lead to tax-free imports of cereals to fill human-induced food deficit," Nyoro said.
He added, "Government should also advise pastoralists to start selling their stocks now and have money instead of waiting for the animals to die and bury carcasses."
Prof Ruth Oniang'o advocated for non-reliance on maize, wheat and beans and urged Africans to go back to traditional crops like sorghum and millet.
"Let African governments ban importation of wheat and maize and urge our people to eat what our forefathers ate. Traditional Africa food is known for promoting lifespans instead of the food we eat now," Oniang'o who is a nutritionist said.

Dr Dyno Keatinge of the Association of International Research and Development Centres for Agriculture (AIRCA) called for promotion of agricultural diversification and the use of indigenous crops and support nutrition sensitive agriculture through awareness raising, policy development, food and diet advice.
"We need to strengthen capacity of plant health systems to reduce pre- and post-harvest losses, enhance access to quality controlled agricultural inputs (seeds, fertilizers, chemicals) and support extension services to enable farmers to make informed decisions at farm level," Keatinge said.

Dr Roger Day of Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) called for increasing investments, facilitating trade and strengthening commodity market systems to end hunger.

"To achieve SDG2, US$265 billion extra needed each year 2016-30 and US$140bn for rural development and agriculture id needed," Day said.
He added, "Adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives and facilitate timely access to market information, including on food reserves, in order to help limit extreme food price volatility."
Dr Dennis Rangi, CABI's Director General cautioned Africans on over-reliance on some crops.

"Only four wheat, rice, maize and soyabean crops feed the whole world yet we have half a million plant species on the planet. We need to diversify to save people from dying," Rangi said.
He added, "Global temperatures are predicted to increase by +2°C. This has serious implications for production of the major crops. As well as higher temperatures, climate change is likely to cause more volatile rainfall patterns with increased risks of drought and flooding."
Dr Thomas Dubois from the World Vegetable Centre urged African governments to invest in vegetables as a source of creating employment and ending hunger.