Access to Food is a Human Right although it has become elusive to many communities over the years. The unpredictable weather pattern has affected the traditional and modern farming systems making it difficult to produce sufficient food to sustain households. At the National level, the Government is forced to subsidize its grain reserves through importation of grains to feed its population due to under-production by the local farmers. Inadequate access to food has various negative effects in the livelihoods of people ranging from poor health/malnutrition, high morbidity and mortality rates and poor economic and social growth. In other instances, it has been argued that food scarcity equally leads to increased levels of crime in a community as people scavenge for the few available resources to eek a living.
The future lies in revamping local production and supporting the establishment of sustainable and thriving markets towards economic empowerment. At AiRDT, we have made an undertaking to do the following;
- Sensitize and promote agribusiness amongst target communities- commercialize farming for increased incomes and improved nutrition.
- Increasing production among local farmers by promoting SMART agriculture to counter the effects of the unpredictable weather patterns.
- Providing material and technological support to farmers in terms of trainings and supply of inputs which include seeds, fertilizers and low-cost machines to enhance production.
- Work with local farmers and county Governments for construction of storage facilities to reduce loses emanating from post-harvest handling.
- Supporting local farmers to form producer groups and lobby with the Government and private sector players for better pricing of produce.
Lobby with the Government for an appropriate policy environment that favor local production with an assurance of return on investment.
