Guarantee food security but also safe foodstuff

By EDITORIAL

Food security remains a perennial challenge. Oftentimes, the country is faced with severe starvation due to food shortage arising from poor weather. Which is why there is a push for the government to invest in irrigation so as to boost food production and, therefore, overcome the losses brought about by the vagaries of weather.

But there is a more worrying dimension to food insufficiency — namely, post-harvest waste losses caused by poor storage and weak marketing and distribution infrastructure.

Experts estimate that up to 20 per cent of crop yields are lost in the post-harvest phase through spillages during handling, inadequate storage facilities, lack of capacity for primary processing as well as damages by pests and rodents.

Proper storage is critical, especially for grains such as maize as they are expected to last through a farming year. Yet this is where there are serious incapacity issues.

We are alarmed by reports by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) that maize stock in the market is heavily contaminated with aflatoxin. This comes at a time when millers are complaining about stock-outs due to low crop production last year. Such maize is unfit for human consumption. Yet it is difficult for consumers to determine the quality of the maize they buy; meaning that they are at risk of partaking of toxic foodstuff.

The next harvest is still months away, especially in the grain basket of the Rift Valley, and in a situation where available stock is adulterated, there is a real threat of food scarcity.

Kebs has done the right thing to send out an alert but that is not enough. It should conduct nationwide surveillance to identify where the bad stocks are and have them properly destroyed to avert the risk of consumers buying them.

The pertinent issue, however, is proper investment in the crop production chain, starting from farm inputs to harvesting, storage and marketing. It does not make sense for farmers to work so hard only for their crops to go to waste after harvesting.

Also, consumers should be insulated from the dangers of consuming infected foodstuff.

The onus is on Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya and his team to streamline crop production and marketing to eliminate these dangers while ensuring food security.