African leaders, the media, international donors and organizations have been weaponizing drought, hunger and food insecurity to drum up support for the need to bring in Genetically Modified Foods or drought-resistant crops. This has also been used to justify the need to import ‘grain from Ukraine’ into Africa. As much as climate change has contributed to drought, systemic issues such as bad governance, the green revolution and weak infrastructure are key drivers of food insecurity in Africa. Once these systemic issues are addressed, Africa may soon be food secure. African leaders have not shown any practical means to tackle food insecurity in their countries, and international organizations are keen to keep importing foreign food aid that has exacerbated the hunger crisis in Africa. Weaponization of hunger and food insecurity has seen Africans on the brink of starvation, as different entities seek to pursue their own geopolitical and economic interests and not the welfare of hungry Africans.
Bad Governance
This has to be the main cause of food shortages in Africa, given that governments are fundamentally responsible for creating an enabling environment for the attainment of sustainable food security for all their citizens. African governments are plagued with corruption, greed, arbitrary policy making, lack of transparency and accountability that has been the perfect recipe for food insecurity in Africa. For instance, the Kenyan government has chosen to import 4 million bags of genetically modified maize, 600000 metric tonnes of rice, beans, other legumes and cooking oil. Yet in the same country, farmers cannot find a market for their produce. Kenya’s deputy president announced that farmers ought to sell their maize before the imports arrive, yet the government was not willing to buy from these farmers to feed the starving population in the country. This shows poor governance, where the leaders would rather import food duty free and not buy from their own tax-paying farmers. Also, the Kenyan government chose to arrest protestors that were lamenting the soaring food prices and high cost of living other than address their plight.
The Kenyan State House is lavishly spending close to $40,000 a day on hospitality, in a country where the government claims that citizens are dying from hunger. Additionally, this government has undertaken the massive construction of affordable housing units, yet that costly undertaking should not be a pressing issue at the moment. Tackling food and water shortages should have taken precedence over any other projects in the country. It seems that African countries have adopted ‘learned helplessness’ by relying on food aid to solve the hunger crisis, yet foreign food aid exacerbates the food shortage crisis. African countries have fertile farm lands and are in a position to be self-sufficient and food secure. Kenya’s government expropriated land from peasants and yet offered 300,000 acres to a foreign energy company. Kenya’s insecurity has seen an increase in banditry and cattle rustling, but the most shocking incidence was that police responded by shooting more than 100 cows dead, in a country where people are starving to death. Regional armed conflicts should be addressed to ensure that farmers, pastoralists and other citizens can all live and thrive, this would promote food security through peaceful trade. It is absurd to think that many African countries have been exporting food to other countries around the world, yet they still struggle to feed their own populations. Africa’s food security will be addressed sustainably by listening to African experts such as the Africans farmers that are abandoning GM seeds due to their unsustainability. These farmers have chosen to plant their indigenous crops and not the very expensive input-intense farming proposed by the green revolution.
The Green Revolution-Africa
The Green Revolution that was to introduce new varieties of crops in Africa has not been successful in fighting hunger in Africa. Traditional crops such as millets, sorghum, barley, wheat, maize and rice were in abundance in Africa before the Green Revolution introduced what they called ‘better varieties’. Consequently, the production of indigenous crops declined and species were lost due to the production of subsidized hybrid crops by governments. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides introduced to boost the high-yielding new varieties destroyed indigenous crops, and caused the physical and chemical degradation of the soil. Many African governments are adopting irrigation, which is known to deplete the water table through excessive pumping and use of the groundwater.
According to GM watch, Monsanto’s GMO drought-tolerant maize that failed in the U.S is being pushed on Africa. A report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that GMO drought-tolerant (DT) maize have poor yields. These maize varieties were released to African farmers, yet Africa is still facing worse droughts decade later. Ironically, Bill Gates visited Kenya and gave a lecture on why Africa should adopt the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), which he funded jointly with Monsanto. Yet the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) that was founded by Bill & Melinda Gates and Rockefeller foundations has repeatedly failed, including in meeting its goal to reduce hunger by increasing incomes and food security. Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy expert Timothy Wise has a well-researched article that outlines how AGRA has continuously failed in Africa. AGRA promotes input-intensive agriculture that relies on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. These are harmful to the environment, and produces greenhouse gases that contribute to the climate crisis. According to the USDA, drought-tolerant (DT) corn hybrids have ‘limited ability to protect against severe-or-worse droughts’. One of our recent articles discusses the importance of adopting millets and other traditional crops in Africa.
Weak or Poor Infrastructure
For decades, African farmers have seen their harvests rot on their farms because they lack access to roads, storage facilities and markets. This has led to massive food wastage and losses, making food prices to soar and have people suffer from hunger and famine. Multinational organizations receive funding and donations to address the hunger crisis in Africa. However, each year, these organizations flash us with horrible pictures of starving children and dead carcasses to depict the drought situation that keeps on worsening. This repetitive cycle has seen a wastage of resources that could be geared toward sustainable solutions such as provision of water and security in different regions that struggle with recurring famine. African countries should also import food from its neighbors and this may help with sustainable trade, other than waiting for grains to be shipped from Ukraine.