Basic Food security for poverty reduction & sustainable development in kenya

Food security exists when there are adequate, accessible, affordable, nutritious and safe provisions, for all people at all times, to maintain a healthy and active life. Food security for sustainable development has three pillars which are availability, access and use according to knowledge of basic nutrition. Several political promises to ensure food security for sustainable development have been made by various national leaders. On the contrary the number of starving incidence recur frequently due to lack of concrete action. The number of hungry people globally also increased from 824 million in 1990, [the ‘MDG’ baseline year] to 925 million in 2010.The world population is expected increase to 9 billion by 2050. This calls for urgent prioritization of provisions issues . The right to provisions is a fundamental right of everyone, 'to be free from hunger' according to provisions of article 11 of the International Convent on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the branch of international law inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Climbing beans

Therefore the National government has an obligation to establish non-discriminatory and non-political policy on food security for sustainable development. People exposed to hunger worldwide are likely to  reach one billion by the end of 2011.Global cereal demand is expected to rise by 1 billion tons over the next four decades which is a fore warning that the time of low provisions prices is over. Consequently there is need to improve world agricultural productivity by 70% come 2050.This should be done with sound environmental management practices in mind for sustainable development and improvement of provisions. One of the best methods to ensure national food security in Kenya is innovation. This calls for support for implementation of new ideas, new information, and new technologies for sustainable development. Despite marvelous benefits of investment in agriculture in the last 25 years, wealthy countries have reduced the budget for international agriculture at an alarming rate whereas in fact the budget needs to be increased.

The current climate change has increased pressure on provisions and greatly challenges sustainable development. Global warming is progressively reducing agricultural production, undermining food security in Kenya and many developing countries. Policies that could help farmers adapt to changing climate include irrigated agriculture, agricultural research, flood control and controlling human resettlement. The Government should investment in small scale farmers and herders and empower the most vulnerable people to take charge of their food security. This is cheaper than giving provisions and enhances sustainable development.

Posted in: Climate Change, climate change adaptation, Food security, Nutrition, Sustainable development