Part I-Current issues
Deterioration of human welfare or as commonly termed ‘economic and social regress’ on matters of supply of food, water, fuel and basic health, appear to affect, to varying degrees, most of the less developed regions that hold 80% of the world population. (1) Sub-Saharan Africa however, appears to be the worst affected with chronic food shortages, malnutrition, unbalanced nutrition, erratic food supply, poor quality foods, high food costs and even total lack of food. Usually noted, as outward manifestations are hunger, poverty and famine with immense suffering. In the African continent for example, FAO (2) has noted that 72% of arable land and 31% of the pastoral area is degraded. This trend will make it possible for the land to produce food for only 40% of the population. With a projected population of one billion (1) in the year 2025, food problems, that is, food insecurity will increase.
Towards food security:
To be "food secure” is to have regular access to sufficient foods for a healthy and productive life. Food security is a multidisciplinary process that involves the application of science to produce, preserve and store food. The process may extend to strategic planning to achieve production and distribution of products and the marketing of excess food. Above all, the process to attain food security must be sustainable with maintenance of the infra- structure and the environment. Ideas to tackle food security issues by proposing improvements in transport, education and irrigation must be evaluated with caution. Such ideas are attractive theoretically, but costs; culturally influenced lack of acceptability of new technologies could affect implementation. A country that cannot provide basic education to its people cannot put forward education as a means of solving food crisis or will it champion transport improvement when fuel costs are prohibitive. Lack of water distribution rather than lack of water is the problem that cannot simply be overlooked by choosing irrigation as an option to secure food availability. The way forward is to look at what is available or in current practice, that offers food security and improve on it.
Strategies for change towards food security
Current practices:
Many African countries have a unique form of agriculture that consists of a small plot of land (usually a quarter to about two hectors). It is widely described in East Africa as ‘shamba’ (meaning small plot of land) as depicted by the picture.
