Production Potential, Government Support, Climate Change and Food Insecurity A Reigning Kenyan Paradox.

Abstract

Kenya is one of the most water-scarce countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. This situation has been worsened by climate change which has caused frequent and severe droughts that come with devastating effects on human life, the wildlife and the economy in general. Less than 20% of Kenyan land mass is arable. However, this percentage has continued to diminish due to human activities, desertification and climate change. Food security has been described as the ability of every citizen to access affordable and enough food of good nutritional value. Food security has been an elusive dream in Kenya due to inadequate rainfall and persistent droughts. The fact that many citizens depend on maize as the key staple food has worsened the food security situation owing to frequent droughts that have negatively impacted maize production. Kenyans have neither diversified food preferences nor have they retained some traditional foodstuffs that are more affordable than maize, nutritious and resilient to adverse weather. The irrigation potential is very low because water in the country is scarce. Kenya has the potential to be food sufficient through irrigated production, but there are many factors that have denied the country the opportunity to exploit this potential. The ever-elusive food security situation in the country against the background of abundant knowledge of what needs to be done and how depicts a paradox. In unravelling this paradox, it has been suggested that about Ksh.100 billion be set aside per year for development of irrigation infrastructure.