Committee: Committee on World Food Security ! Topic: Food Security Country: Republic Of Kenya Delegate: Rohan Wadhwa !

HARAMBEE

"It is no coincidence that in countries where agriculture has taken off there have been large investments in research and infrastructure. -Kanayo Nwanze, President of the IFAD Food security is said to be existing when all people, at all times, have physical, and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Achieving food security is extremely critical for every nation and should be given top priority. Kenya has been struggling in the recent years, but has been making gradual progress as well despite all the challenges being faced. In the recent years, especially starting from 2008, the country has been facing severe food insecurity problems. High proportion of the nation does not have access to sufficient and high quality of food. According to estimates, over 10 million people are food insecure with majority of them living on food relief. Households are also suffering due to high domestic prices. Maize being staple food due to the food preferences is in short supply and most households have limited choices of food available. Agriculture plays a very important role in the growth of Kenya and is one of the reasons Kenya is considered to be the biggest economy of East-Africa. The sector directly contributes 24% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 27% of GDP indirectly through linkages with manufacturing, distribution and other service related sectors. Approximately 45% of Government revenue is derived from agriculture and the sector contributes over 75% of industrial raw materials and more than 50% of the export earnings. Agriculture sector is also the largest employer accounting for 60% of the total employment. Since agriculture plays an important role in Kenyas aim to achieve food security, the Government of Kenya has continued to give agriculture high priority as an important tool for promoting national development and eliminating poverty. The problems faced by Kenya are mainly attributed to factors like the regular droughts in many parts of the country, high costs of domestic food produce because of high prices of inputs especially fertilizers, displacement of a large number of farmers in the high potential agricultural areas following the post-election violence which occurred in early 2008, high global food prices and low purchasing power for large proportion of the population due to high level of poverty. Republic of Kenya realizes the importance of achieving food security and also recognizes the challenges faced by the country and its people and has formulated the following steps to eliminate food insecurity. These include: !Improving the conditions under which food relief organizations operate so the food relief can reach more people in need. !Encouraging diversification of crops planted. !Improvement of the management and use of natural resources, especially water for irrigation. Development of rural agricultural markets and agri-business skills. !

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