FOOD SECURITY CANNOT BE OVER EMPHASIZED
By Isaac
Mwangi
14th March 2015
Nobody is talking about
it, yet this should be a very busy season as East Africans prepare their
land in readiness for the long rains.
The blame can be placed on a host of factors: A misplaced focus that
gives priority to rock music instead of agricultural programmes during
prime time on our radio and television stations; the cultivation of a
mindset among our youth that farming is for the old and not-so-trendy
types; the lack of sufficient funding and government support for
critical agricultural programmes; and an increasing focus on
manufacturing and value addition at the expense of basic agricultural
production.
Gone are the years when the head of state would lead a mobilization
campaign urging farmers to till the land; state-owned suppliers of
subsidized agricultural inputs would be abuzz with activity, with
farmers' co-operatives joining in the effort; and public broadcasters
would give publicity to every effort to boost agricultural productivity.
If there is one truth that can never be told too many times, it is
that a country that cannot feed itself can never be truly free. It is
actually shameful for our leaders to be parading themselves every now
and then in foreign capitals seeking food aid. Therefore, efforts to
boost the productivity of our farms should not be something for anybody
to be ashamed of: After every few hours, after all, we expect to sit at a
table and eat a decent meal.
The situation is made worse by the history of conflict that many of
our countries have had to endure. Conflicts remove resources and
attention away from productive areas in order to fuel the war effort. In
the multiparty era, this antagonistic strand is still evident and is
responsible for the never-ending duels among the power elite that end up
sapping all our nations' energies in the political arena.
The problem of hunger is not entirely of our own making, though.
Prescriptions from international institutions such as the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund have often frustrated local producers and
worsened the situation. The structural adjustment programmes of the
1990s are one such example.
Our leaders must have the courage and muscle to say "No" to bad
advice from these international institutions and donor countries. After
all, these are countries that have perfected the art of double-speak,
subsidizing their own farmers even as they arm-twist developing
countries to stop subsidies to their people.
The end result of blindly following Western prescriptions has been
catastrophic dependency that moves our countries deeper into the pit of
shame and poverty. That is why neo-colonial theorists hold that African
leaders are beholden to foreign interests at the expense of those of
their own people.
Whatever one may believe about such arguments, one thing is for
certain: That our countries will continue to face challenges in feeding
our people unless governments become more proactive in taking measures
to resuscitate the agricultural sector. That, of course, also means we
must have good governance that ensures funds are availed for productive
activities and do not end up in the private bank accounts of politicians
and government functionaries.
Unfortunately for our leaders, there is hardly any option. From the
days of Marie Antoinette, nothing feeds revolutions the world over
better than a hungry citizenry. Add to that the power of the Internet,
and you begin to understand the kind of stuff that leads to such
historic events as the Arab Spring.
The way forward is to re-establish the primacy of agriculture within
our policy making, academic, and national discourse and institutions. In
this, our political leaders must lead the way through taking timely and
proactive measures.
At a time like this, for instance, the least that can be expected of
them is to explain to East Africans what each country is doing to make
sure the cost of seeds and fertilizers becomes affordable, and that
farmers have all the tools and any other facilitation that they need.
They must be at the forefront of galvanizing farming activities as we
enter the rainy season.
True leadership must be concerned with the welfare of citizens, and
that begins by ensuring there is sufficient food in every household.
That is the challenge our leaders must confront today.
Source: The Arusha Times
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