Why Food Insecurity Is Still A Topic Of Discussion In Africa In The 21st Century

Food security has always been an issue in Africa and other 3rd world countries even in the 21st century. This is despite the fact that there are millions of hectares of fertile land that lay idle spread across the continent. Why does Kenya, for example, get food aid from Egypt and Israel which are deserts? It defeats logic why people in some areas are surviving on government aids while at the same time there is produce rotting in other people’s farm in the same country. What are Africans doing wrong or is it a curse that we cannot heal? The following are some of the reasons why food insecurity will always be a challenge

Outdated farming practices

Most of the Africans are not utilizing their land up to its full potential. Some of the reasons behind this are high illiteracy levels and poverty that reigns in most parts of the continent. Most of these farmers stick to old ways of farming and use uncertified seeds which leads to low yields. Some do not know the plants that can perform best in their areas because they do not have access to information. Some cultures are also prohibitive. Take for instance the pastoralists who believe in big herds of cattle with no economic value.

Solution
People have started embracing new methods of farming but it will take time before the continent is self-sufficient. It is also hard to convince pastoralist communities to rear a few herds of cattle because they believe in numbers. Some NGOs like Amiran have been at the forefront of promoting agribusiness in this beautiful continent.

Poor infrastructural networks

Let us face it. Africa has a long way to go to get the interconnection it needs to get foods into the market. How many times have we seen produce rotting in the farms just because the roads are impassable? It gets worse when the produce is perishable because there is not much that we can do. Sometimes there are a lot of intermediaries between the consumer and the farmer and as a result, the farmer will be always exploited.

Solution
There is nothing much that the citizens can do to alleviate the situation. Their only mandate is to elect leaders who can champion for better infrastructure. Africa is a rich continent only that means of transport and communication are still a challenge.

Lack of planning

There is a lot that needs to be done to make the food security situation in the African continent sustainable. Some departments are failing in their jobs in analyzing situations and coming up with contingency plans. When there are heavy rains, no one is there to harvest the waters to help in irrigation when it is dry. The silos also do not have the capacity to hold all the products when there is a bumper harvest and as a result, most of it goes to waste.

Solution
It is time the governments came up with systems that can analyze and come up with solutions to food crisis issues. Some of the storage means available at the moment are outdated and cannot accommodate modern produce. The farmers also need safety education on how to store foods for future consumption.

Corruption has also been a stumbling block towards realizing food security in this continent. It is deep-rooted in the society it might take ages before we get rid of it. We have heard cases of people importing cheap food supplies from other countries while similar supply is rotting in the farms of their fellow countrymen.