Africa: Experts Want More Agricultural Investments to Ward off Drought

By George Okore

ROME--Following severe drought ravaging arid and semi-arid parts of Horn of Africa and threatening the livelihoods of both human and livestock, experts are urging for more agricultural investments to minimize the effects of drought.

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Regional Economist Geoffrey Livingston says stepped-up investment in agriculture and smallholder farmers across the region will increase food production. He says collective and concerted action is urgently needed to prevent a major food crisis emerging across Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Uganda and Somalia where an estimated 10 million people now face food shortages because of a prolonged drought.

The warning from the Rome based United Nations agency echoes the concerns already expressed by others over the plight of millions affected by the drought and ever -increasing food prices that have seen many people in the region go hungry and malnourished. Unpredictable rains makes planning difficult for pastoralists and smallholder farmers, with soils becoming steadily less productive because of nutrient loss from erosion and leaching.  Many farmers are now unable to produce enough food to feed themselves and their families.

International Aid group Oxfam says livestock have decimated, through large-scale loss of life.

According to a December 2010 International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) report, interventions to support livestock, such as supplementary feeding and commercial destocking among recommended actions in  Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS), should be implemented before livestock are so weak and die.   LEGS provides relief efforts to communities that rely heavily on livestock for their social and economic well-being.

According to Livingstone, IFAD is working with local farmers to reduce the risks, such as by expanding access to rainwater harvesting, supporting reforestation programmes and improving soil fertility management. He says with correct support, local farmers will be key agents of economic growth and food security and also contribute to better management and preservation of increasingly scarce natural resource base in the context of a changing climate.

Also affected are the pastoralists, who depend on livestock for all basic needs and any losses undermine their economic and food security. Kenyan Livestock Minister Mohamed Kuti says the value of livestock has plummeted and livestock markets have collapsed, so people have much less purchasing power than before.

World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Josette Sheeran urges for urgent delivery of emergency food assistance to strengthen the resilience of communities affected by the drought emergency and to protect assets such as farming tools and livestock.