Food crisis in Africa is a wakeup call to embrace economic conversion


Africa is in the midst of a food crisis. From Southern Africa to Northern Africa, the continent is unable to feed millions of its population. Mal-nourishment is on the rise while food production per hectare has stagnated.

Faced with a population explosion, the continent is grappling with demographic challenges particularly youth bulge and an ever-increasing urban population.

While there is a fallacy that urbanization has led to an improved standard of living, the reality on the ground is that social amenities have been severely stretched due to unplanned development. Effects of this have been among other things informal urban settlements in which Africans are living a half-life.

The spiral effect of this scenario is increased consumption. Indeed this is evident in the number of malls that have sprung up in urban areas particularly in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. There has not been a corresponding increase in production.

What is being witnessed is an increase in import particularly Asian imports. There has been no diversification in the export market or in the variety of exports. We have been stuck with the same old traditional exports like cocoa, tea, coffee and raw minerals.

In spite of this, the continent has experienced a rapid increase in military expenditure. Eyebrows were raised in South Sudan when it emerged that 70% of the country’s budget was to be spent on acquiring military hardware in a country that was facing a severe drought with an estimated 3 million facing starvation.

In Kenya, the situation is the same. Despite government assurances, millions are starving due to leadership malaise and a cartel-controlled food market. The government in its wisdom decided that scaling up food budget was not a priority but acquiring untested military hardware was.

In the midst of livestock deaths and malnourishment, it sealed a deal worth $418 million (approximately Kshs. 41.8 billion) for the acquisition of 12 weaponized patrol planes.

Military budgets in Africa have increased exponentially over the years under the guise of war on terror, fighting violent extremism among other jargon. By classifying issues as security threats, countries have unilaterally increased military spending without scrutiny.

Kenya’s military expenditure has been increasing by an average of seven per cent over the last 10 years, according to the authoritative Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Nigeria’s expenditure reached a record high of $3bn in 2011 but has declined over the years to reach $2.3 billion in 2015.

Perhaps the cause of militarization of the economy can be explained by military coups that rocked Africa in the Cold War era where generals raced to satisfy their egos by increasing conscriptions and armament at the expense of health, education, agriculture and other sectors.

The problem with military budgets is that tendering and procurement is shrouded in secrecy and mystery. Queries are promptly discarded under the guise of national security. Procurements act as conduits for corruption. A lot of money is never accounted for appropriated under terms like counter surveillance, covert ops, and intelligence gathering.

Maputo declaration called upon African countries to spend at least 10% of their national budgets on agriculture. As of 2009 only Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Malawi, Senegal and Zimbabwe had complied. Most countries Kenya included spent less than 5%.

As Africa increases her military budget, it must urgently address the issue of food security urgently. It should borrow a leaf from countries like Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Canada and Finland which have adopted a pacifist attitude on the international front. Competing against each other in an arms race where the possibility for inter-state war is low is a pointer to wrong prioritization.

The issue food needs to be securitised as Napoleon said, “An army fights on its stomach” and as things stand African armies bellies are half full. There is need to discard the Cold War mentality and convert Africa from military economies to civilian economies.