Effects Of Drought On Food Security In Kenya

Effects of Drought on Food Security in Kenya

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Effects of Drought on Food Security in Kenya

Introduction

Climate change can be described as the changes in the climatic pattern due to direct or

indirect human activities, which interfere with the normal composition of the universal

atmosphere in accumulation to natural variability over the given period. The climate change can

be attributed to the frequent droughts that are experienced in the modern days. Drought therefore

can be defined as a form or system of environmental stress originating from precipitation

deficiency over a long period of time thereby leading to crop failure, biotic loss, moisture

deficiency, or loss of lives and the general hardship (Gregory, Ingram & Brklacich, 2005, p.

2143). A larger percentage of the world’s population has been affected by the frequent drought at

one point of their lives where quite a number also lives in the arid and semi-arid areas of the

world.

Drought instances connected with the climate variability or inconsistency and climate

change have in the recent years become more pronounced in Kenya and in turn, it affects the

agricultural production. Kenya has experienced more drought events during the last decade

where the frequency and severity of the drought appears to rise with time. The rapid recurrence

of the shocks related to drought often leaves less recovery time before the emergence of the next

shock. This implies that quite a number of households are losing their capacity to economically

participate in activities, which will ensure food-sufficiency such as rain-fed agriculture. The

recurrent low rainfall pockets have to lead to reduced agricultural yields by causing crop failure

in some places. This inclusion with the overall strained economic situation has kept the prices of

food high and contributes to weakened food security in Kenya.

Effects of Drought on Food Security in Kenya

Goals and Objectives

The main goal of this research proposal is to investigate the effects of drought on food

security in Kenya and a preview of some of the consequences which food insecurity have on the

economic growth of the country. The objective of the study involves examining the current and

the history of drought instances in Kenya, and what role both the government and international

community can play towards managing drought so as to evade food insecurity caused by drought

in Kenya. It aims at answering certain questions such as what causes the frequent droughts, what

are some of the consequences of recurrent drought patterns, does drought result in food

insecurity of the country, what are some of the implications of food insecurity in Kenya, and

what measures can be taken by the government to address the situation.

Methodology

The research will be context-based where several existing previous studies, researchers,

and both local and international reports concerning the drought situation in Kenya and its effects

on food security will be thoroughly analysed. Several reports and articles have been retrieved

from different library databases like the government databases, World Food Programme, United

Nations Organization, and other government websites in analysing the causes and contributing

factors to food insecurity in the country. The study was not only focused on the effects of

drought on food security to the Kenyan economy, it was also keen on examining some of the

remedies towards eliminating the problem within the country. These have been achieved through

an intense literature review of the available reports, articles, publications, and journals

addressing the same.

Effects of Drought on Food Security in Kenya

Literature Review

Droughts and natural hazards that emerge from the absence of seasonal rainfalls often

contribute to food insecurity, save for the death of livestock, and poor harvest is larger sections

of Kenya. Speranza, Kiteme & Wiesmann, (2008) contends that pasture shortages due to failed

rains, poverty, and poor harvest as well as the political and social environment, which can be

traced to lack of good governance, have contributed to not only food insecurity but also serious

food crisis and underdevelopment in the country. Furthermore, the vulnerability of food

insecurity has been high due to the widespread drought-hit areas in Kenya particularly among the

small-scale agriculturalists and the pastoralists in the arid and semi-arid areas (Devereux, 2007,

p. 54). These drought-prone areas often receive low rates of rainfall, which is greatly variable

both in space and in time thereby causing severe food shortages.

Agriculture has been established to support more than 70 percent of the Kenyan

population by generating the larger portion of the food requirements of the country, which is

dependent on rainfall. Nevertheless, only less than 15 percent of the Kenya’s landmass ranges

from medium to high agricultural potential because of reliable and adequate rainfall (Hugo &

Mugalavai, 2010, p. 69). The semi-arid regions in the country are only suitable for livestock

farming and rain-fed marginal crop production. These kinds of agriculture barely produce

enough food for human survival and do not substantially contribute to the economies of the

country. Moreover, according to Oluoko-Odingo (2011, p. 7), droughts have become a major

concern and constraints to the rain-fed agricultural production in these arid and semi-arid areas

of Kenya. Therefore, any kind of farming practiced in the semi-arid areas, particularly the rain-

fed agriculture faces great risks of crop failure due to frequent drought events experienced. It

Effects of Drought on Food Security in Kenya

therefore follows that the marginal agriculturalists and pastoralists in the arid and semi-arid areas

are the most vulnerable groups to drought effects since their livelihood largely of not all heavily

rely on the climate performance with the feeble economic base. The agricultural sector is the

most adversely affected areas by drought and this has a direct and a bigger implication of food

security situation of the country.

Droughts have been established to contribute to low crop yields considering that crop

failures, stunted growth, wilting of crops, and lack of planting seeds, all are due to droughts

frequently experienced in some parts of the country. It also leads to the reduced rain-fed

agricultural activities in some parts of the country. The consequences of drought are mostly

witnessed in poor animal and crop production, loss of livestock, starvation, hunger, and food

insecurity in overall ((Hugo & Mugalavai, 2010, 71). Huge crop failures in the affected regions

often incapacitate farmers by forcing them to minimise the acreage under subsistence farming in

favour of well-paid jobs in urban centres thereby triggering the rural-urban migration of the

labour force (Devereux, 2007, p. 51). Moreover, those who choose to farm only during the

emergence of rainfall often operate under conditions where the necessary production assets have

been destroyed. Such drought incidences normally affect the quantity of the planted acreage

thereby threatening the food security of the country.

Frequent drought conditions in certain regions of the country can lead to the changes in

the planting dates and in the crop varieties. There have been constant changes in crop varieties,

cropping patterns, and planting dates within the affected regions of the country. This is

particularly because the timing of rainfall onset and crop variety is very crucial in determining

the farming calendar and season of the rain-fed farming system (Godfray et al., 2010, p. 813).

Effects of Drought on Food Security in Kenya

Maize crop, for instance, is a staple food for a number of Kenyans and is virtually grown

throughout the country save for the arid and semi-arid climates where it can only be sustained

under irrigation system.

Therefore, effective ways of curbing drought in Kenya should be designed since the

recurrent droughts often lead to food insecurity, which in turn has many negative impacts on the

country involved. For instance, lack of food leads to the hunger of children who fall sick

frequently and hence have to be hospitalized. These hospital costs are often passed along to the

business community from where they lead to a lot of tax and insurance burdens. The paediatric

hospitalization costs on average if often high and further contributes to higher health care costs

of the country. Furthermore, hunger also affects the experienced workers who tend to be less

prepared socially, emotionally, mentally, or physically to effectively perform in their

contemporary workforce t of thereby lowering the performance of the company or the

organization (Godfray et al., 2010, p. 817). It also leads to less competitive workforce due to a

lower level of technical and educational skills that are seriously constrained human capital.

Furthermore, drought often subjects Kenya rely on food imports from its neighbouring

countries such as Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. These imports are often associated with high

cost of transportation which when coupled with the high inflation rates has caused a dramatic

rise in food prices in the country. The country’s reliance on expensive foreign food supplies and

a decline in agricultural production negatively affects the overall economic growth of the country

and will further food shortage or insecurity in the future.

Economic growth is greatly depressed in a country considering that it will only be

sustainable when all the countries within the country have addressed the issue of food insecurity

Effects of Drought on Food Security in Kenya

by curbing drought. Without state-owned or state-driven food security strategies in a country,

there will often be obstacles and supplementary costs to country-level, regional, and global

economic growth (Speranza, Kiteme &Wiesmann, 2008, p. 226). The country should further

come to the attention that for it to ensure food security, it needs to encompass both men and

women, and other disadvantageous or vulnerable groups. Since food insecurity in the country

negatively affects the economic growth in a country, both the government and international

community should collaborate towards tackling the food insecurity in Kenya.

Kenya should then modernize the agricultural sector by changing the current structure of

the agrarian economy to an industrialized one despite the adverse climatic conditions which

often result in droughts. The country must in the short term create an agricultural sector, which is

capable to resist the effects of climate change by providing efficient market, groundwater, and

irrigation systems (Oluoko-Odingo, 2011, p. 11). These efforts call for the attention of both

donors, private sectors, scholars, and the government itself to work together towards making

food insecurity due to drought a history in Kenya.

Conclusion

In conclusion, drought has been a major cause of food insecurity in Kenya where

frequent droughts and famines are some of the common defining characteristics in some parts of

the country thereby leading to widespread suffering among the citizens and loss of investments,

savings or even livestock. However, some local resident in the country has accepted the

condition as part of their daily lives where some consider the problem irresolvable as long as

there is inadequate rainfall. Moreover, it has been established that maize farmers are the ones

who have been affected the most with draught instances in Kenya especially in West Pokot

Effects of Drought on Food Security in Kenya

because it results in crop failure as compared to other crops such as groundnuts, green grams,

and sorghum that are drought resistant. Drought further affects animal production thereby

leading to the production of less milk compared to wet season. Long periods of drought have

negative implications on food security, which results in the increase in poverty level and in turn

affects the participation of the community in both political and socioeconomic processes.

Furthermore, the persistent drought has been established to increase the vulnerability of

households in the events of prospected food insecurity and climatic shocks. It can push the

pastoralists off their normal production systems by forcing them to move to other areas such as

urban centres where water supply, sanitation, health, and food distribution may be readily

available. Following these establishment therefore, the study suggests that the government needs

to encourage restocking and initiate irrigation schemes after drought so as to support the

communities who have lost their plants and animals following the drought. Capacity building

initiatives via educating the community to enlighten them on the recommended crop varieties

that are drought resistant are necessary. Both county and national governments should embrace

the support accorded by communities towards the programs of land reclamation under irrigation

since this would lead to more engagements of the communities in farming activities and thereby

reducing the keeping of livestock as the key source of livelihood.

Effects of Drought on Food Security in Kenya

Bibliography

Devereux, S., 2007. The impact of droughts and floods on food security and policy options to

alleviate negative effects. Agricultural Economics, 37(s1), pp.47-58.

Godfray, H.C.J., Beddington, J.R., Crute, I.R., Haddad, L., Lawrence, D., Muir, J.F., Pretty, J.,

Robinson, S., Thomas, S.M. and Toulmin, C., 2010. Food security: the challenge of

feeding 9 billion people. science, 327(5967), pp.812-818.

Gregory, P.J., Ingram, J.S. and Brklacich, M., 2005. Climate change and food security.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 360(1463),

pp.2139-2148.

Hugo, J.M., and Mugalavai, E.M., 2010. The effects of droughts on food security in Kenya.

International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses, 2(2), pp.61-72.

Oluoko-Odingo, A.A., 2011. Vulnerability and adaptation to food insecurity and poverty in

Kenya. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 101(1), pp.1-20.

Speranza, C.I., Kiteme, B. and Wiesmann, U., 2008. Droughts and famines: the underlying

factors and the causal links among agro-pastoral households in semi-arid Makueni

district, Kenya. Global Environmental Change, 18(1), pp.220-233.

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