RUTO SHEDS LIGHT ON TRADE BETWEEN TANZANIA AND KENYA

BY GRACE MACHA IN ARUSHA

President William Ruto of Kenya has shed light on the food trade with Tanzania which often keeps fluctuating due to new regulations.

He said when he addressed the recent African Food Systems Forum/AGRF that Tanzania would continue to be a main source of cereals for his country (Kenya). 

Mr. Ruto said with nearly two thirds of Kenya being prone to severe droughts, food importation was a critical factor in Kenya's food security agenda. 

"In Tanzania you have plenty of rain to grow food unlike in our country", he told a presidents' segment of the four day forum at Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre (JNICC) in Dar es Salaam. 

The Kenyan leader who will mark one year in office this week (September 13th), admitted that the high cost of  food was one of the main agenda during the last polls in Kenya.

He challenged the African governments not to take food cultivation for granted and instead invest in food production in every possible way.

At least 65 percent of uncultivated arable land in the world was in Africa, yet the continent leads in the number of hungry people.

Mr. Ruto said in a session attended by leaders from Burundi and Senegal that food trade between his country and neighbouring Tanzania has not been without challenges.

"There are some problems at the borders. There are just a few border officials frustrating this", he pointed out, noting that the solution to the crisis has often hit a brick wall.

He implored government technocrats in East Africa to ensure borderlines between states remained facilitative rather than hurdles for cross border trade.

He attributed the poor farm harvests in Africa due to failure to embrace the right technologies targeting the smallholder farmers.

According to him, between 30 to 40 percent of crops in Africa were damaged after harvests, noting that the drawback must be addressed.

The Burundi president Evariste Ndyashimiye, said Africa should modernise its farming systems to meet the growing demand of food. 

The Burundi leader is also the current Chair of the East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit, the supreme organ of the Community. 

Zanzibar President Hussein Ali Mwinyi said his country has embarked on the Blue Economy in order to put more food on the table and money in the pockets of its people. 

He said despite its potential seaweed farming has not been taken seriously by the Zanzibaris who have limited land to cultivate food crops. 

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) minister of Climate Climate Change and Environment Ms Mariam  Almheiri said her government will grant $ 4.5 billion for renewable energy projects in Africa.

The Norwegian minister for International Development Ms Anne Beathe Tvinnereim slammed the developed countries for not supporting the poor countries in addressing food insecurity.

"It is absurd we have invested in sending tourists to space, yet we have failed to feed people", she said during discussions on nutritional benefits.

She said strategies to combat hunger should go alongside efforts to tame malnutrition which is also behind the high mortality and morbidity rate in poor countries.

Ms Tvinnereim implored the African governments to turn to the continent's rich aquatic resources to produce enough food for the constrained people.

She said the animal protein from fish was the best to be consumed for improved nutritional status of the people, noting that Tanzania  was better placed with its long coastline and its inland lakes and rivers.

The minister emphasized that Norway was ready to support the African countries to invest in food production among small scale farmers and fishermen rather than space explorations.