More efficient use of resources would curb hunger

By PATRICK GITHINJI

Can we end hunger? What will you do? These are among several questions the world will be focusing on today as it marks World Food Day.

The theme for World Food Day 2013 is “Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition.” Let’s think about what each part of that theme means in our lives.

Food security: There are an estimated 842 million hungry people on the planet. This means that one in eight people in the world suffer from chronic hunger, not having enough food for an active and healthy life.

Nutrition: Producing more food is important. But it is not enough. Two billion people worldwide lack micronutrients vital for good health. Each one of us requires more than basic staple foods for a balanced and nutritious diet. Our food systems must become more nutrition-driven, with a stronger focus on fruits, vegetables, and other nutrient-dense foods.

Food Systems: A food system is made up of all the processes that ensure our food arrives from “farm to fork”: how we grow, process, package, transport, store, market, purchase and eat our food. Since every aspect of a food system has an effect on the final availability and accessibility of diverse, nutritious foods, we must constantly strive towards healthier improvements up and down food value chains.

Sustainability: By definition, sustainable food systems produce nutritious diets for all people today and protect the capacity of future generations to feed themselves. Yet, today almost 60 per cent of the world’s ecosystems are degraded or used unsustainably, in large part because of the environmentally harmful effects of our current food systems. We can do better. By using resources more efficiently at every stage along the food chain, we can increase the amount of healthy food available worldwide.

A study by the International Food Policy and Research Institute (IFPRI) last week lifted Kenya’s global hunger index ranking to 54 out of 79 nations. Despite this improvement, Kenya is still vulnerable to food insecurity caused by water scarcity. The report further cautioned that 14 million Kenyans face malnutrition.

But what can we do to cushion ourselves from hunger? While population has been rapidly increasing, food production has been declining due to varied factors, including climate change, reduced farm size, and declining soil fertility.

One crop a group of African scientists and researchers say has the potential to not only meet the nutritional needs of the people, but also put money into the pockets of farmers is the soybean – a leguminous plant (native to Asia, widely cultivated for its edible seeds. The fruit-grains of this plant are used in foods and making animal feed, especially as a replacement for animal protein).

One of the leading campaigners for soybean cultivation and consumption, Dr Mabel Mahasi, a scientist with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (Kari), once said: “I often tell Kenyans they have to supplement ugali with soybean blended foods because when there is no maize, they starve.”

Soybean contains 40 per cent protein, a level much higher than in any other food crop. It is made up of 20 per cent oil, and contains all the eight essential amino acids, making it the healthiest legume crop. Unfortunately, the crop’s rich potential is not well exploited in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is mostly seen as a cash crop. The crop is a hunger food, an animal feed and an industrial crop that also enriches farmland by fixing nitrogen from the air into the soil. It is also a versatile crop that can do well in all the maize-growing areas in the region. A project dubbed Tropical Legume II is intended to enhance legume productivity and production and improve the incomes of poor farmers in drought-prone areas in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia hasn’t achieved much.

The project explores and promotes innovative ways to process and use five legumes, including soybean, in nine countries: Mali, Niger and Nigeria, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and India.

The work is a collaboration between the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and their national partners.

Currently in Kenya, the rate of acceptance of foods processed from soybeans has tremendously increased. Recipes developed fit well into the country’s lifestyle and eating habits. Products include soy milk, soy blend porridge for children, weaning food and blending of soy flour with wheat flour to make nutritious bread, pizza and samosa. Most of these food products are well prepared.

The writer is a communications practitioner at Engage Burson-Masteller in Nairobi.