Charles Wanjau, the manager of Amboni Co-operative Society in Mweiga, Nyeri North District, inspects milk at the society’s offices. Delayed and mostly uncoordinated actions among various ministries and agencies in the food supply chain may have allowed malnutrition to turn into starvation in the north of Kenya . Photo/FILE
A lot has been said and written by experts and opinion leaders on food security, especially after the current food emergency.
Delayed and mostly uncoordinated actions among various ministries and agencies in the food supply chain may have allowed malnutrition to turn into starvation in the north of Kenya
Lessons from the previous two droughts and famines have apparently informed and prompted the government to decree irrigated agriculture a national priority, and we have seen funds being rolled out to support irrigation infrastructure and projects . This is a positive first step towards ensuring sustainable food security in the future as the country will no longer be merely complaining about global warming but will be creating capacity and resilience to respond to global warming impacts.
If effectively co-ordinated and implemented, irrigated agriculture is one area that will be expected to attract a lot of donor interest and support in the future.
In the grains supply chain, we have many key players with varying responsibilities that do not always appear fully harmonised to address food security and response to food emergencies.
The distinct functions and responsibilities in the food supply chain, as I see them, include production, warehousing, marketing, import/export of deficits and surpluses, strategic reserves management, and emergency relief food coordination.
At the two ends of the supply chain we have the farmer and the consumer with the grain miller providing the linkage.
At the sidelines, we have the Treasury who decide when and how much grain to import apparently guided by EAC trade protocols. With this web of seemingly uncoordinated interfaces, it should not surprise many that we are routinely in crisis that is mostly avoidable.
To effectively achieve food security there is an urgent need to have policy interventions that proactively address and manage the interface between the farmer and the food market.
The farmer is a key agent of food security and for this reason farming has to be made attractive and profitable for him to feel motivated to feed the nation.
We recently heard of instances of farmers withholding maize harvests from the market awaiting good prices.
This was apparently happening as the country rapidly drifted towards severe food deficit, and as ministers helplessly complained of farmers hoarding supplies. There was in deed a mismatch between government and farmers’ expectations.
Going forward, there is need to establish official minimum producer price to be paid to farmers by the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB). Such minimum producer prices should be calculated and published regularly (monthly) by way of a transparent cost-build up formula which includes all genuine production and transport input costs plus a reasonable profit margin good enough to motivate the farmer to choose to remain in grain farming. This minimum producer price will in a way indirectly influence the final consumer prices for the foodstuffs.
A variation to this farmer-oriented rationale is contract farming whereby for the largescale grain farmers, NCPB or private millers for that matter, will enter into contracts with farmers to produce and deliver crops at pre-agreed terms and prices.
These two arrangements in a way will guarantee the farmer a market and a minimum price and he will feel motivated to take risks in farming.
Leaving the farmer to contend with free market forces may be inappropriate as he has little influence or flexibility on such market forces which leave him vulnerable and exposed to routine losses.
Further, for the banks providing credit to farmers, farming will become a “bankable business” with reduced risks as revenues from farming will be ring-fenced against unpredictable cyclic production and marketing losses.
If there are revenue guarantees, the insurers also feel more confident covering unforeseen weather related risks of crop failures. Guaranteed markets and producer prices are part of a supply chain model that appears to be working quite successfully in the now vibrant dairy industry where contract production is already being practised.
To better define food supply chain responsibilities and accountabilities, the Ministry of Agriculture would have the prime responsibility for promoting production, to monitor national supply and demand balance, and to decree shortfalls for imports and surpluses for exports.
Set prices
The ministry would also calculate and set official minimum cereals producer prices to be paid by NCPB to farmers.
The NCPB on the other hand would have the key commercial portfolios for warehousing, buying and selling cereals including importation and exportation.
A separate independent “Fund” should be charged with the responsibility for financing and holding strategic stocks within NCPB warehouses (rented by the Fund) to cover a pre-determined number of days of national consumption.
The fund would always be the responsibility of the consolidated fund with a sufficient annual recurrent budget to maintain and replenish strategic reserves. The Fund would be expected to fully pay for whatever stocks that are bought and designated strategic in the NCPB warehouses.
Strategic fund
Emergency relief food distribution is purely a logistics function that is best handled by an independent national emergency preparedness and response authority responsible for all national emergencies including famines.
Once a food emergency is jointly confirmed and decreed, the authority will take delivery of food from the strategic Fund for distribution in designated affected regions.
It is this emergency authority that would have permanent logistics arrangements with the armed forces, National Youth Service, Red Cross and private entities to mobilise logistics as and when needed.
The guiding principles in ensuring national food security are that locally grown food saves the country the much needed foreign exchange, safeguards against disruptive impacts to the country’s socio-economic order, while providing employment for Kenyans.
Mr Wachira is the director, Petroleum Focus Consultants. E-mail: [email protected].
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