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| Religious Superior's Conference of Kenya |
Religious Superior's Conference of Kenya Message |
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"Famine is, by its very nature, a social phenomenon& [I]t has to be recognised that even when the prime mover in famine is a natural occurrence such as a flood or a drought, what its impact will be on the population will depend on how society is organised." (Drèze, J. & Sen, A., 1989) [1]
1. Natural disasters occur frequently worldwide; only on rare occasions are they associated with famine. To understand the origin of the recent famine, which the President of the Republic of Kenya declared as a national disaster in his new year's speech [2], we have to look how the Kenyan society is organised.
2. It would be short-sighted to raise our voice at this peak of acute starvation and starvation-related diseases without talking about the chronic hunger and undernourishment we see throughout the year. Famines are extreme events that generate spontaneous goodwill from churches, artists, philanthropic organisations and even prisoners who forego their lunch in solidarity. Chronic hunger does not necessarily lead to famine but kills a proportionately larger number of people. However recurrent, we cannot deal with a mighty blaze alone if we forget the slow, smouldering combustion that is eating people day by day.
3. Though the country is making progress in dealing with malnutrition, one Kenyan out of three is undernourished and the under-five mortality rate is still growing [3]. Chronic hunger is related to poverty and a persistent failure to allow sufficient groups of people to have access and control or 'entitlements' over food. Rather than flagging-off trucks filled with foodstuffs in front of the cameras, we strongly advocate for egalitarian social and economic development. This is likely to be required for sustained, extensive reductions in chronic hunger.
4. In tackling the recent famine and prevailing chronic hunger we look upon the State and its institutions in terms of immediate response, coordination, redress and prevention. The economic successes in the tea, horticulture and dairy sector in Kenya have all been attributed to public support and favourable regulations. A 2005 FAO report on food-security in Africa mentioned in particular the positive effects of:"&
-the role of the legal and policy framework (land reform, regulatory frameworks, contractual arrangements);
-institutional support through initially public-funded authorities that provide services to producers, and sometimes are used for channelling subsidies (inputs), but which are gradually transferred to producer associations or the private sector; and
-public infrastructure (for transport of product and export abroad)." [4]
The declaration, therefore, that after spending resources in 2005 on reviewing the Constitution of Kenya we can now refocus on our development agenda, should not suggest that economic development can be achieved without a legal framework. [5]
5. Concentrating on food availability in a country like Kenya does neither identify the real causes of chronic hunger nor of famine. Increasing Kenya's agricultural productivity alone will, therefore, not solve the problem. Instead, an examination of the social relationships that identifies different groups of people with command and 'entitlements' over food is more effective and points at the heart of the matter. It has been said that the top 10 percent households control over 42 percent of the country's total income, while the bottom 10 percent control less than 1 percent. For every shilling a poor Kenyan earns, a rich Kenyan earns 56 shillings [6].
6. Land is often regarded as an important resource in Kenya and can be the origin of inequality and violent disputes. The type of land being held and the way it is being held is important. With over 80% of the population dependent on agriculture, access to arable land is a clear dimension of inequality. While a few landowners own huge tracts of idle land, landless farmers are squatting in fragile forests. Whereas the arid and semi-arid areas remain inappropriately administered, policed or abandoned entirely in spite of their potential viability, public land, eyed as profitable, was allocated illegally or irregularly to the well-connected and often developed subsequently with public funds as well [7]. As a matter of priority, we urge a sustained and firm commitment to develop the marginalized areas of Kenya, in terms of access to water, security and public infrastructure.
7. A key element in the prevention of famine is the protection and creation of livelihoods, which can in principle be achieved through public action. Public action could reduce chronic hunger through providing jobs, health care, education, access to water and elements of social security. This, obviously, raises questions about a government's development policies in general, and its actual political will to implement those. How can Kenya, for example, export fish fillets from Lake Victoria to rich countries and leave local residents with mgongo wazi, the skeletons of the fish? We would like to see massive support for the small farmer through improved land tenure security, extension services, irrigation schemes, and access to credit.
8. Kenya is developing its Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping System (FIVIMS) [8]. We welcome the current spirit of openness on the part of the Government, indispensable in creating a collaborative environment in which decisions are to be taken. We see, however, two significant weaknesses in this system: (1) underdeveloped co-ordinating structures at national level, in particular limited government involvement in the existing structures and poor linkages between information and response planning/policy options; and (2) poor linkages within and between levels e.g. from community to district to provincial and national levels. We see the lack of coordination and integration within and between the various structures and institutions as probably the most important constraint in the fight against famine and chronic hunger. We are particularly weary of new ministries which are being created out of political expediency and only complicate the prevailing disorientation.
9. We also question the ways of channelling public aid to those who are most in need. We fear that the lack of accountability and transparency, which has tainted the Kenyan administration for decades, is reflected in this matter as well. The intention of a government when it declares a "national disaster" can be a noble one. The ensuing influx of funds, however, also creates new temptations for those who know to turn the system to their personal advantage. We see relief food marked 'not for sale' ending up in the shops. To misallocate funds destined for the poor, even through neglect, is a grave sin in the Bible (Luke 16, 19-31).
10. Public action to prevent famine is most likely to be taken when vulnerable people have been empowered by political movements which establish a governmental obligation to prevent mass starvation. In this regard, we disapprove of the tendency, exemplified in the Proposed Constitution of Kenya 2005, to remove from the agenda all affirmative action in favour of minorities and marginalized groups.
11. Our prayers and efforts go now out to all those in the affected areas. We have in our thoughts the neediest and those who care for them.
Nairobi, February 2006
Signed:
Fr. Patrick Devine, SMA
Chairman, RSCK - Executive
Fr. Denis Mason, OSA
Chairman, RSCK - Justice & Peace Commission
Fr. Ludwig Van Heucke, S.J.
Secretary, RSCK - Justice & Peace Commission
Endnotes
1. Drèze, J. & Sen, Amartya (1989) Hunger and Public Action, (Oxford: Clarendon Press), p. 46.
2. In Kenya, with the failure of the current rainy season in northern and eastern Kenya, the already precarious food security outlook became worse in 2005. Crop failure and depletion of livestock herds due to prolonged drought led to famine conditions with some deaths reported in the arid areas. The districts affected include Marsabit, Mandera and those far South such as Kajiado, Laikipia and parts of Eastern Province. In his new year's speech 2006, the President declared the famine a national disaster and called for national and international efforts to raise about Ksh11 billion (about US$150 million) to provide food for about 2.5 million people, almost 10 percent of the population, over the first six months of 2006.
3. Though undernourishment has gone down since 1990 both in numbers and as a proportion of the total population, in 2000-02, 10.3 million Kenyans were still undernourished, accounting for 33 percent of the total population estimated then at 31.1 million. The under-five mortality rate (per 1,000 live births) has gone up from 97 (1990) to 123 (2003). FAO (2005) The State of food Insecurity in the World, 2005. Eradicating World Hunger - Key to Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (FAO: Rome), Table 1, p31, and Table 2, pp. 34.
4. FAO (2005) Food Security and Agricultural Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Building a Case for more Public Support, Main Report, pp. 62-63
5. (Available at: http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0001583/FAO2005_mainreport.pdf; downloaded 09/02/06), pp. 62-63
6. On, Tuesday, November 22, 2005 in a television and radio address to the nation from State House Nairobi, "noting that a lot of energy and resources have been spent on the constitutional debate and the politics associated with it, the President said it is now time for Kenyans to refocus their energies more intensively to development." (Available at: http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=33537 downloaded 09/02/06).
7. Society for International Development (SID), Ministry for National Planning & Development, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), (2004) Pulling Apart: Facts and Figures of Inequality in Kenya (Nairobi: SID-Eastern Africa Regional Office). In this Report, the top 10 percent households are said to control over 42 percent of the country's total income, while the bottom 10 percent control less than 1 percent (SID, 2004: pp. iii; xiii).
8. See: Republic of Kenya (2004) Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Illegal /Irregular Allocation of Public Land, (Nairobi: Government Printers). A sample of religious bodies that participated in the illegal allocation of public land is given in this report on pages 182-186.
9. At the national level, a FIVIMS is implemented through a network of information systems that gather and analyse data relevant for measuring and monitoring food insecurity and vulnerability. This network is collectively referred to as a National FIVIMS. In spite of copious data and early warnings about the sate of affairs in Kenya, the response was apparently inadequate. |
| Religious Superior's Conference of Kenya (2006-03-03) |
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