Last week, the world over celebrated World Food Day and this
year's theme was "United against Hunger". This was chosen to
recognize efforts made in the fight against world hunger at
national, regional and international levels. In East Africa the
World Food Programme and all government, NGOs, civil society
organizations and the private sector work all spoke out about
the need to fight hunger, extreme poverty, disease and
malnutrition. However, the spotlight in the region focused on
smallholder farmers who comprise over 80% of the population.
This number is coming down fast as large numbers move to the
urban areas in search for jobs and better social economic
opportunities. Although the majority of the rural folk depend on
agriculture for both food and income, hunger, malnutrition and
disease are still endemic. In fact in the last 50 years of
independence, many communities especially in Sub Saharan Africa
are still grappling with a shortage of food and water. The UN
has set Eradication of hunger and extreme pov