From the Daily Nation, January 1, 2006.

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?premiumid=0&category_id=39&newsid=64410

Kenya has lots of resources, but we lack the inspiration

Story by X.N. IRAKI /Opinion
Publication Date: 01/01/2006

Water in California is brought from the north to the thirsty south through
aqueducts, one of which runs for 444 miles. The water irrigates the orchards
and vegetable farms which break the desert's monotony.

More water is brought from the Colorado river before it empties into the
Pacific Ocean, already "tamed into total submission'' as suggested by some
poets.

A drive through California leaves no doubt in one's mind that man can tame
nature, subdue it and enslave it � if only inspired. Farms are generating
power from the wind in California.

In Kenya, we have failed to tame nature; she has enslaved us, and we are
paying the price through hunger. The deserts in California are no less
forbidding than Kenya's. But after gold ran out, Californians did not start
whining; they were inspired to tame nature.

Water shortage is not a problem in Kenya; it is only its distribution. We
let too much of it flow into the oceans where no one needs it. Some areas
have too much rain, while others have too little.

But some dry areas are endowed with fertile soil, like the Laikipia plains.
What is lacking is the will, the inspiration to bring water to such areas.
Technology is there, so is labour. An uninspired nation cannot solve its
problems � even the most basic such as feeding itself.

Why are we uninspired to tame our rivers, subdue nature and enslave it? Why
is agriculture one of the least popular choices for Form Four graduates
aspiring to go to university?

We even joke about agriculture. In one public university renowned for its
science and technology orientation, students who major in horticulture are
considered as not "tough enough'' and are subjects of silly jokes.

Why have agricultural extension services been neglected? Why are we railing
against genetically modified crops?

Yet in other countries, most agricultural extension work is centred at
universities. The new methods, ideas and discoveries in agriculture find
their way to farmers as soon as possible, the way new potato varieties used
to reach farmers from the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute.

We still look down upon agriculture, yet in other countries, governments
give farmers subsidies even when other countries complain. They know that a
country that cannot feed itself has little respect.

An uninspired country will not aspire to achieving high goals like feeding
itself. We spend a lot of time talking about abstract issues like the
Constitution at the expense of real issues like food and water. In Kenya, we
know our problems, but no one wants to solve them; no-one is inspired to
solve them. It is not the first time the country is starving. But we seem to
learn nothing. We appeal for food aid and receive it, and as soon as the
rain comes, life goes on.

We expect other people to solve our problems, yet they have theirs to think
about. Must we have hunger and images of dying children to act? Yet signs of
our lack of inspiration to confront imminent problems are everywhere �
always with us. What can we do about hunger? Why should we fail in one of
mankind's greatest discoveries � agriculture?

Let us have inspirational leaders who do more and talk less. The Government,
through extension officers, should introduce new and modern farming
practices that leave the river banks intact. The policy makers must make it
clear that water is a strategic natural resource and feeding ourselves is a
national priority.

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The writer, a lecturer at the University of Nairobi's faculty of commerce,
is currently a Fulbright scholar in Mississippi, USA.