Financing is the key to Kenya’s food security.

According to studies conducted by the UN two billion people did not access safe and nutritious food in 2019. Additionally, more than 650 million people went to sleep hungry while another 750 million experienced severe food insecurity.

Kenya is on track to hit a population of 80 million by 2040. Unfortunately, the country’s food production is not expanding parallel to the number of mouths to feed.

The University of Denver projects that food consumption in Kenya will exceed production by 20 million metric tons by 2040. By extension, this suggests that we will need to import 25 percent of our food.

To curb this huge difference, the entire country and external entities need to get active with increasing farm productivity. However, beyond simply improving the amount of food available, focus needs to be placed on its nutritional value.

An estimate of 36.5 percent of Kenya’s population is insecure and 35 percent of children under five are malnourished. This is all according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

This emphasizes the need for enhanced partnerships between the public and private sectors when it comes to food security.

Financing as the key to Kenya’s food security

The main missing link to sustainable agriculture is financing.

Banks and other financial bodies are integral steps on the way up to achieving food security. Creating an efficient value chain of financial products that can facilitate increased productivity in crop and livestock production is essential to winning the fight.

The number of micro and medium enterprises in the agriculture space has grown significantly. In turn, this creates a huge opportunity in the world of agriculture for like minded partners to work together with all parties standing to gain.

It is the duty of lenders to help advance the global sustainable development goal. Specifically  in particular achieving Zero Hunger, achieve food security, improved nutrition and sustainable agriculture.