Report shows food security is distant fantasy

A new report has painted a grim picture of food security in the country, with many farmers recording significant reductions in yields.

According to the report, almost half of the farmers sampled (47 per cent) recorded huge reductions in agricultural production from the previous year and 83 per cent had experienced crop failure.

The findings are contained in a study of 1,500 small-scale farmers in 26 counties. The study was conducted by the Catholic Church's Jesuit Hakimani Centre (JHC) between May and July.

Twenty per cent of the farmers said their agricultural production had stagnated at the same level, while a third of them (33 per cent) said production had improved.

The counties that had the highest numbers of farmers who recorded a big drop in agricultural production since last year were Homa Bay, Baringo, Laikipia, Narok and Kericho.

The counties in which farmers reported improvements in production were Machakos, Mombasa, Isiolo, Migori and Kirinyaga.

Reported reduction

JHC Executive Director Elias Mokua said the reported reduction in production is significant because most of the affected small-scale farmers (70 per cent) grow cereals like maize and wheat which many Kenyans are heavily dependent on.

Dr Mokua expressed concern that the cultivation of traditional crops like cassava, millet and yams has also dropped significantly. Only 27 per cent of the farmers sampled grow them.

"Although traditional crops are highly tolerant to diseases and varying climatic changes, the number of farmers growing them is declining dramatically. This may not bode well for food security since we will increasingly depend on food imports," said the University of Nairobi lecturer.

Of the 1,500 small scale farmers sampled, 70 per cent grow cereals, 39 per cent vegetables, 37 per cent keep livestock, 28 per cent keep poultry while 27 grow traditional crops.

In addition, 20 per cent practice cash crop farming while eight per cent are pastoralists. Some 27 per cent of farmer grow cereals on land less than one acre.