It is the Chinese in an old but very enduring adage who defined insanity as that act of doing same thing the same way and expecting different results.
Picture from www.theodora.com
Yet when it comes to policy making and the management of public finance, Kenya appears to have thrown all caution to the wind in favor of collective insanity.
Picture from www.theodora.com
Yet when it comes to policy making and the management of public finance, Kenya appears to have thrown all caution to the wind in favor of collective insanity.
One only needs to look at how the government continues to handle the life and death issue that is food security to confirm this. It has been proven time and again that nothing determines the fate of Kenya's economic welfare more than having enough food to feed the population.
As the severe drought in recent months clearly demonstrated, Kenya can dream of the highest skyscrapers this side of the planet, run an efficient financial system, build the best roads network and run a world class technology platform but its economy won't fly unless it is able to feed its population. Having millions of people starving within its borders is -- to say the least -- not only an economic issue but a major social upheaval that exposes the entire country to ridicule. It makes anyone out there who wants to feel good and talk nice about his or her motherland look hollow and pretentious and really just shows how much energy we spend pursuing the wrong priorities.
Take the current situation as an example. Food experts warn that because of the less than expected short rains, the national agricultural output in the key cereals segment will be just 60 per cent of what is needed to feed the country.
That means come next year, the government will have to spend billions of shillings on food imports to avoid a calamity of the scale we have just come out of. But nothing in the government expenditure plans reflects this reality. No one is even going to pay attention to it any time soon until gruesome reports of starving citizens start hitting the front pages of newspapers and TV screens.
In the mean time, the government is going to keep the citizens busy with news of its heavy investments in the non-productive sectors that are mostly cash cows for the political elite. It will continue pursuing hollow dreams such as banking the millions of the unbanked segments of the population, set up digital villages that will turn the country into Africa's ICT hub by linking the rural folk to the world and other dreams of similar grandeur. Never mind that those it wants to bank and hook onto the web will be fighting to access basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing.
Someone needs to tell folks at Treasury that the national budget needs to start reflecting the realities of our economy and our priorities.
Relevant Links
* East Africa
* Kenya
* Business
* Food and Agriculture
* Sustainable Development
That we cannot afford to continue giving an impression in the budget that we need to invest more in state security apparatus than we need to do in food security. The political and bureaucratic elite needs to be told that not even enacting a new constitution will do the country as much good as attaining food sufficiency and producing a surplus to sell to the world - especially in the coming years when commodity prices are expected to rise sharply offering farmers the best chance ever to boost their earnings.
With the climate change pressure expected to continue building up in favor of green energy, there can be no better place to invest than in agriculture. Kenya must do so to serve the dual objectives of ensuring food security and earning the money we need to build good roads, equip our schools and hospitals and run world class technology.
As the severe drought in recent months clearly demonstrated, Kenya can dream of the highest skyscrapers this side of the planet, run an efficient financial system, build the best roads network and run a world class technology platform but its economy won't fly unless it is able to feed its population. Having millions of people starving within its borders is -- to say the least -- not only an economic issue but a major social upheaval that exposes the entire country to ridicule. It makes anyone out there who wants to feel good and talk nice about his or her motherland look hollow and pretentious and really just shows how much energy we spend pursuing the wrong priorities.
Take the current situation as an example. Food experts warn that because of the less than expected short rains, the national agricultural output in the key cereals segment will be just 60 per cent of what is needed to feed the country.
That means come next year, the government will have to spend billions of shillings on food imports to avoid a calamity of the scale we have just come out of. But nothing in the government expenditure plans reflects this reality. No one is even going to pay attention to it any time soon until gruesome reports of starving citizens start hitting the front pages of newspapers and TV screens.
In the mean time, the government is going to keep the citizens busy with news of its heavy investments in the non-productive sectors that are mostly cash cows for the political elite. It will continue pursuing hollow dreams such as banking the millions of the unbanked segments of the population, set up digital villages that will turn the country into Africa's ICT hub by linking the rural folk to the world and other dreams of similar grandeur. Never mind that those it wants to bank and hook onto the web will be fighting to access basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing.
Someone needs to tell folks at Treasury that the national budget needs to start reflecting the realities of our economy and our priorities.
Relevant Links
* East Africa
* Kenya
* Business
* Food and Agriculture
* Sustainable Development
That we cannot afford to continue giving an impression in the budget that we need to invest more in state security apparatus than we need to do in food security. The political and bureaucratic elite needs to be told that not even enacting a new constitution will do the country as much good as attaining food sufficiency and producing a surplus to sell to the world - especially in the coming years when commodity prices are expected to rise sharply offering farmers the best chance ever to boost their earnings.
With the climate change pressure expected to continue building up in favor of green energy, there can be no better place to invest than in agriculture. Kenya must do so to serve the dual objectives of ensuring food security and earning the money we need to build good roads, equip our schools and hospitals and run world class technology.
Original Story From www.allafrica.com
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