Kenya, Tanzania Rated 54th out of 79 countries ranked in Global Hunger Index Report 2012

By Eric Akasa

Unsustainable use of land, water and energy is threatening the food security of the poorest and most vulnerable around the world. According to the Global Hunger Index report (GHI) 2012 released for the seventh year by the International food policy research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerlife and Concern Worldwide.

The index ranks Kenya in the 54^th with a score of 19.3 an improvement in the past ten years from an alarming (2001 GHI of 20.4 score) to 19.3 2012 GHI.

According to Josephine Thome Head of Project Welthungerhilfe Kenya, the proportion of undernourished in the population has stayed the same over the last ten years, child underweight and mortality have decreased significantly “From 1990 to 2012, the population of underweight children has steadily decreased from 19.3 to 16.4 per cent and the mortality rate of children under five has declined from 9.9 to 8.5 per cent in Kenya.” Says Josephine Thome.

According to the report, the challenge of hunger :ensuring sustainable food security under Land ,water and Energy stresses hunger on a global scale remains serious with twenty countries having hunger levels that are ‘alarming’ or “extremely alarming.”

Two of the three countries with extremely alarming levels-Burundi and Eritrea are in Sub-Saharan Africa while the third is Haiti. South Asia is the other region that continues to suffer from the highest level of Hunger.

Hunger is inextricably linked to growing pressure on land, water and energy resources.

“Resource scarcity affects countries differently, of the three sectors, land, water and energy, Kenya is particularly vulnerable to food insecurity caused by water scarcity.” Remarks Thome. “The fresh water supplies of this earth are unevenly distributed, for instance Cameroon has 14,237 cubic metres per capita while Kenya has only 525 cubic metres. Estimates suggests that renewable water resources of less than 1000 cubic metres per inhabitant limit economic development and human health and well-being.” Adds Thome.

Growing scarcity and degradation of farmland, rapidly raising incomes and changing consumption patterns have all contributed to an increasing number of international land investments or deals. Many of these deals have targeted Sub-Saharan Africa where land rent is lower, regulatory systems weaker, and levels of hunger higher.

“Last year we saw drought in Northern Kenya and food price increase in the informal settlements contributing to unacceptable levels of acute malnutrition. This year the situation has improved but unless there are fundamental changes in policy and resource allocation, this is going to be an ever recurring cycle.” Says Anne O Mahony, Concern Worldwide Kenya Country Director.

In the Kenyan context, the implication is that policies such as the Kenya National Land Policy (sessional paper number 3 of 2009) can only reach their full potential and correspond to the rights and needs of smallholder farmers if they are appropriately resourced, particularly in the marginal areas where scarcity of resources and increased competition is being aggravated by climate change.

“With the overall land policy in Kenya being to secure rights over land and provide for sustainable growth, investment and the reduction of poverty in line with vision 2030. It is now work of the government to ensure the next medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) of 2013 to 2016reflects its commitment to small scale producers through greater investments in land reform with justice and equity.” Points out Mahony. 

  

“Large-scale foreign investments in land should be closely monitored. Local organizations are needed to secure transparency and participation of smallholder farmers whose livelihoods are impacted by land deals.” Says Barbel Dieckmann, Welthungerhilfe President.

Water scarcity is exacerbated by climate change especially in the severely water stressed areas of the world, which are home to more than two billion people. Flooding drought and environmental degradation threaten agriculture in many parts of the world.

Rising global energy prices are a serious threat to food security increasing demand for agricultural land and water for crop production which in turn raises food prices. Higher energy prices also increase agricultural input costs such as the cost of fertilizer and ground water pumping and machinery putting further pressure on prices.

“Agricultural production must increase substantially to meet the demands to meet the demands of a growing and increasingly wealthy population.” Notes concern worldwide Chief executive officer.

Food security is threatened by governments short term focus on economic gains, uncoordinated land, water and energy policies and lack of political will and action to design policies that increase efficiency and reduce waste of natural resources while protecting the poor.

Long term availability of natural resources is crucial to food security and human wellbeing. “If local, national and international natural resource policies focus on sustainable, long-term gains if policies are coordinated and tradeoffs among land, water and energy policies are minimized, we can strengthen the global food system while preventing resource depletion.” Remarks Claudia Ringler IFPRI Deputy division director “Such a shifting to sustainable food security would benefit billions of people today and many more in future decades. She adds.