FYI: How to prevent a famine

Source: REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Speaking at a meeting in Kenya on food crises, agricultural experts agreed to four ways to prevent future famines in the Horn of Africa. The panelists included representatives from CGIAR Consortium, UN Somalia Food Cluster of the World Food Programme, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI).

AlertNet summarized the meeting with the top four ways future famines could be prevented:

• Get the private sector to adopt new research

Investing in innovations can not only help to curb hunger but can also seed future businesses in the region. For example, KARI has helped to develop sorghum in the region. East African Breweries, the largest beer company in the region, is investing $2.6 million in buying the sorghum from small-scale farmers.

• Eat different foods

Investing in famine-resistant crops and changed food preferences can help the region.
 

• Invest in livestock and agriculture

“Modest investments in agricultural research that allow the world’s most vulnerable people to take charge of their food security are far less expensive than constantly parachuting in with food aid and humanitarian assistance,” said Lloyd Le Page, CEO of Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). “Yet donors and governments continue to fall short of their promise to boost investments in the farm sector.”

• Use irrigation to support pastoralism, not switch to farming

"The food crisis in the Horn is essentially a livestock crisis,” said Le Page. “The best way to prevent famine in arid lands is to ensure access to critical dry season grazing and water areas for livestock.”