Has Kilimo Kwanza policy strategy failed to deliver? Wednesday, 17 October 2012 11:54

Are you aware that while you are guaranteed of your lunch, there are millions of Tanzanians out there, who are unsure of a single meal a day? This is real.

The Global Hunger Index 2012 launched in Nairobi last week paints a very disturbing picture, as far as food security in the country is concerned. Among many things, the report shows that nearly half of households in the country lack adequate food. Furthermore, about one million Tanzanians are in danger of experiencing hunger.

The report, by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide, further says that unsustainable use of land, water and energy is threatening the food security of the poorest and most vulnerable around the world.

According to the report, on a global scale, hunger remains serious with 20 countries having levels of hunger that are ‘alarming’ or ‘extremely alarming.’

More disturbing is the fact that two of the three countries with extremely alarming levels - Burundi and Eritrea - are in our region. The third country is Haiti.

I believe that there are many people, who share my views that we did not expect such observations at this time. I did not expect such an outcome at a time when we are supposed to start counting the benefits of our much touted green revolution drive dubbed Kilimo Kwanza.

Our country has invested a lot, in terms of finance, human resource, as well as time and other resources for Kilimo Kwanza to start paying. The fact that the global report shows that the situation of food security in the country is alarming, means that Kilimo Kwanza has not given us what we desired or planned it to deliver. It is time we ask ourselves; what went wrong?

Kilimo Kwanza policy strategy was designed, as a primary way of ensuring food security among Tanzanians. By extension, it intends to boost the national economy, which hinges on agriculture. We need to conduct a deep analysis of Kilimo Kwanza policy strategy to establish why the blueprint has failed to give us the best results.

We should ask ourselves if we gave Kilimo Kwanza the attention it needed, in terms of ensuring its adequate implementation, or we just used it, as a vehicle to boost political mileage. Did we give Kilimo Kwanza all the necessary inputs? If yes, we should ask ourselves, if we put these inputs into correct usage.

If the answer to the former question is no, we should find out why we failed to treat Kilimo Kwanza fairly. The Global Hunger Index should be a call to us to start paying attention to the policy strategy and related agricultural programmes as well as projects. As a country, Tanzania has committed itself to set aside 10 per cent of its annual budget for agriculture activities. We have not done so for many years and the recent report is a testimony to the consequences of our failure to meet our commitments.

And we are neglecting agriculture at our own peril. Apart from food insecurity, we are also denying our farmers to take advantage of the global food crisis to generate wealth. We are all aware that the global food situation is very alarming.

This means that agricultural economy like ours has the potential of growing very rapidly from increasing global food prices. But, it seems, we have left the opportunity to pass.

The government has established the National Grain Reserve Agency to ensure, among other things, there are enough food stocks always. Farmers should be free to take advantage of increasing food prices to sell their produce anywhere so that they could get more profit.

We should not be worried about food scarcity if farmers are allowed to export their crops because in essence, the NGRA is supposed to ensure that there are enough stocks for national needs.