Source - Business Daily, Kenya
Written by Charles Njoroge - Blog moderator
April 30, 2008:
April 30, 2008:
The food crisis is visiting the world. Hunger is looming and the world is in need of more food everyday. Food riots due to ever increasing prices for basic foods have been reported. Some governments have been forced to step in and artificially control the cost and export of basic food items. In Kenya, the Ministry of Agriculture says all is well, at least we have four more months before we run out of the country food reserves.
Scientists and social commentators world over attribute the food crisis to a host of reasons: high oil prices, substitution of oil with biofuel crops, ever growing population, extreme weather and ecological stress. The effect is, with increase in the price of oil, inputs such as fertilizers become unaffordable; transport and tractor hire per acre more expensive. With the increase in oil prices it consequently becomes profitable to grow more biofuel crops. The cycle goes on.
For Kenya, the post election violence that affected mostly the food producing areas of the country complicates the problem further. The settling of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the bloated grand coalition cabinet further puts strains on the scarce government resources that could otherwise help respond to the looming danger. Further, lack of access to innovative rural financial services and over reliance on microfinance to rejuvenate agriculture in rural Kenya compounds the problem.
Mr Njoroge is a consultant and microfinance Trainer.
Email: cgnjoro@gmail.com
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6 comments:
Just read it and it is a good article. It under pins our problems. We are
moving like a wave in mant fronts and we do not understand where we are
going. Microfinance is a wave that originally came from Grameen Bank into
Kenya through K-rep. We could have tamed the wave and applied it to our
context. Development finance is wider than microfinance. Microfinance
suits short term working capital financing needs for commerce. Investment
financing requires development financial instruments and or mechanisms and
that is where agriculture comes in. The concept of AFC, ADB, KIE, ADC etc
was all about development financing but these institutions have been
turned into creative avenues for corruption to siphon money out of public
coffers into private hands.
Regards,
Kagai
Charles,
Thanks indeed for a nice article. Hunger is hitting the world. Am not sure just like you have said microfinance will fight it. Infact my fear is that microfinance will be hit harder than any otehr business by the food cris. Microfinance is an urban phenomena as you said and those do not produce food, yet they have loans to pay. I imagine MFIs doing prvisioning than ever before and PAR increasing than ever before.
Thanks for the blo. Its the first i have visited it and i guess if as many people can join teh debate - we shall change the face of microfiannce in Kenya.
Thanks
Gabriel
Charles,
Thanks indeed for a nice article. Hunger is hitting the world. Am not sure just like you have said microfinance will fight it. Infact my fear is that microfinance will be hit harder than any otehr business by the food cris. Microfinance is an urban phenomena as you said and those do not produce food, yet they have loans to pay. I imagine MFIs doing prvisioning than ever before and PAR increasing than ever before.
Thanks for the blo. Its the first i have visited it and i guess if as many people can join teh debate - we shall change the face of microfiannce in Kenya.
Thanks
Gabriel
Charles - You are spot on. This business of one size fits all tends to hurt the common client.
Charles - You are spot on. This business of one size fits all tends to hurt the common client.
Charles--
Here's the link to that comment I wrote in The African Executive magazine. Our farmers need attention within the microfinance industry. You are their voice.
http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/letters_editor.php?magazine=176
Thanks.
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