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NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Nairobian

Experts call on farmers to grow drought resilient crops

Business

By Ayoki Onyango | Sep 21, 2024

**Sorghum farmers including people leaving with disabilities in Homa Bay and Migori counties on June 30, 2023 being taken through specialized training in cultivating optimal varieties of sorghum**. [Caleb Kingwara, Standard]

Farmers need to embrace irrigation and growing resilient crops such as cassava, sweet potato, finger millet, and sorghum, as part of climate-smart agriculture.

According to former Agriculture Principal Secretary, Professor Hamadi Boga, who is now Vice President in charge of Programme Delivery at AGRA, Africa has 60 per cent of arable land, which can feed the entire world.

Despite this, he says, the continent suffers food deficit. Professor Boga says by 2030 Africa, will have to feed additional 300 million people, which is why there is a need to end hunger in the continent.

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He reveals that Kenya produces 44 million bags of maize annually against the 50 million bags demand, thus forcing the government to import approximately 10 million bags every year to fill the gap.

"The right seeds, for the right areas, legal and policy are required to minimise food imports into the country," says Boga.

Poor infrastructure, lack of markets, the war in Ukraine, effects of Covid-19 pandemic and crop diseases and pests, street protests, lack of financial support from the two levels of government, negative effects of climate change and others, are some of the challenges faced by farmers in the rural areas.

Policy analyst Charles Ayoro says, “When billions of money are used to buy maize from Mexico, it does not help farmers, it does not help the agriculture sector at all, it does not help the country, it does not help consumers who are ordinary citizens”

Violet Matiru of Millennium Community Development Initiatives says dangerous chemicals, which have been banned in European countries, are being used locally to control weeds.

Matiru advocates for the use of organic manure for farming.

The experts were speaking during a workshop on food, nutrition security and climate change, organised by the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) in collaboration with AGRA and with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Zubeidah Kananu Koome, The Chief Executive Officer and President of KEG also spoke at the event.