In Summary
Statistics show that output per acre amongst Central Kenya’s subsistence farming community has halved in the last 20 years. There is need to have a short to medium term plan that converts Kenya into a granary of this region. Two key events have occurred in the last two weeks which have serious implications for the future of this country.
One is, of course, the declaration of the current famine situation as a national emergency; and the other is the invitation of Qatari investors to farm 40,000 hectares of idle land in the Tana River basin.
That we are unable to feed ourselves 45 years after independence is a big shame. (Never mind the fact that the amount of money in the Triton Oil fraud can feed all the hungry in Kenya for a year).
We have looked at the issue of land very emotionally rather than economically. After all, we fought the British to give us back our land! Yet we do very little with this land.
In fact, as the population has grown, the little arable land that we have continues to be sub-divided into even smaller plots, thus significantly reducing output per acre.
Statistics show that output per acre amongst Central Kenya’s subsistence farming community has halved in the last 20 years as plots were sub-divided into ever smaller parcels and as the same crop was produced year in year out.
Let’s now take a little hike to the final home of the River Nile and then cross by boat to Israel.
Most of Israel is desert as compared to the two thirds of Kenya that is semi-arid. Yet many of the oranges that we find in our supermarkets in Kenya and many parts of Africa come from there. This is made possible through water harvesting and conservation.
Similarly, Egyptians had the foresight many years ago of creating the huge man-made Lake Nasser which is a big source of water for irrigation. The result is that Egypt, an otherwise barren desert, produces many times more food than Kenya has ever done.
Where is our policy on food self-sufficiency? I trust that the rains will come shortly and guess what? Our people will start drowning in flash floods in Budalangi and other parts of Kenya. The Sh32 billion needed will probably rise to Sh50 billion because we might have to deal with the ‘IDPs’ brought about by this ‘natural calamity’.
As part of Vision 2030, we need to have a short to medium term plan that converts Kenya into a granary of this region. A people who cannot feed themselves cannot have any chance of competing with our peers in Africa, never mind industrialisation.
This policy should, among other things, consider the following:
Deliberate urbanisation plan
There is no point of continuing to sub-divide land into tiny plots and reducing the efficiency and economies of scale. We need to deliberately create clusters of community areas with easy access to water, electricity and other necessary infrastructure. Incentives should be crafted for ‘emerging’ subsistence farmers to settle there and leave the agricultural land intact. Incidentally, when you have such clusters, it becomes ever easier for Government to provide other services like hospitals and schools.
Divide the semi-arid land into economically viable sizes, for example 5,000 hectares
This should be followed Government investment in basic infrastructure such as murram roads. This land would then be offered to qualifying investors free on a long term lease of say 99 years, provided they deliver on the business plan. It would then create a fund that should be available to any Kenyan entrepreneur who presents a viable business plan and is able to raise say 10 per cent of the costs. The balance would be funded through this fund on the following terms:
a) Interest free
b) Tax holiday for 10 years
c) Grace period of five years before principle payments commence
I am persuaded that with such an incentive, there will be many Kenyans who would take it up and not only invest but create jobs for many Kenyans we would easily be on our way to becoming net exporters of food. Our Qatari investors may soon not find any land to lease as enterprising Kenyans snap it all up.
Invest in water conservation
Any place that floods however infrequently should have a dam to conserve that water. Such a dam would not only provide fish for the local communities but the Government would be able to direct the water to needed areas for times such as this with a well integrated piping system.
How I wish that the Sh32 billion the Government is begging for is to achieve the above and deliver us from never ever begging for food again!
Lifted by KiN from Daily Nation - Tuesday, January 20 2009
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