Kenya is quickly losing her biodiversity due to toxic farm inputs such as pesticides and synthetic fertilisers, an agroecological expert has said.
Martin Oulu a lecturer at the University of Nairobi said agroecology and other nature-based solutions to agriculture could be the silver bullet the country needs to alleviate food insecurity.
He called on the government to incorporate agroecological policies and strategies in its plans to help promote local food systems.
Speaking during a media workshop by the Route to Food Initiative on Friday, Oulu, who is also the coordinator of Intersectoral Forum on Agroecology and Agrobiodiversity, said the government should invest in small-scale farmers and local agroecological food systems.
“Local agroecological food systems would establish a food web in Kenya that supports the production of healthy food, protects the country’s agricultural biodiversity and enhances resilience to climate change,” he said.
Oulu said transiting from conventional to agroecological agriculture and food system required a portfolio of incentives, but also the empowerment and participation of small-scale farmers in decision-making.
“Agroecology has been proven to increase the yields of small-scale farmers, enhance their soils, improve their health because they can eat a variety of healthy foods from their gardens with no chemical residue,” he said.
Oulu said agroecology also reduced the cost of agricultural production because the farmers don’t have to spend money on expensive inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides because they use compost or farmyard manure from their farms as well as practicing integrated pest management.
The don wondered why Kenya was importing fertiliser yet government and other stakeholders in the agriculture sector could work with extension officers to train farmers on how to produce manure and organic fertiliser in their backyard.
“These are simple and economic processes which farmers, especially smallholders, should be engaged into,” Oulu said.
He challenged higher learning institutions that teach agriculture to change with time and incorporate agroecology courses as a way of knowledge transfer and also to protect the endangered biodiversity.
Speaking during the function, Route to Food Communication Coordinator Evelyn Ogutu called on Kenyans to diversify their farming so as to not only have nutritious food from different crops but also to protect the environment.
She said with the help of NGOs, small-scale farmers’ groups have started practicing agroecology to reduce their production costs while at the same time preserve the environment.
Ogutu said the farmers groups in Nakuru, Kisumu, Kakamega, Baringo and Bungoma have also established seed banks to save indigenous food crops which are also hardy against the challenges of climate change.
