The New Green Revolution: Enhancing Rainfed Agriculture for Food and Nutrition Security in Eastern Africa

Abstract

It is anticipated that by 2050, the global human population will reach nine billion (Rosegrant et al. 2009). Along with population growth, socio-economic shifts and changing dietary patterns will require global food production to double in the next 40 years to accommodate increasing levels of consumption (Sposito 2013). Most population growth will take place in developing countries, which is also where food insecurity is most prevalent. The growing demand for food production also creates challenges with respect to water resources. A total of 70–85 percent of available freshwater is used for agricultural production (Rosegrant et al. 2009; Nordin et al. 2013), and increased demand for food will exacerbate issues related to the degradation and depletion of water resources (Nordin et al. 2013). In line with these facts, the narrative surrounding food security is predominantly focused on increasing yields while ensuring sufficient water to do so. Some have argued that the 2008 and 2011 global spikes in food and oil prices initiated the entire ‘water-energy-food nexus’ discussion. In this discussion, these three ‘systems’ are said to be inextricably linked (http://www.unwater.org/topics/water-food-and-energy-nexus/en/). While this is true, the globalized nature of this discourse means that it is overwhelmingly dominated by powerful states and private sector actors, each fundamentally interested in the financial costs (and possible profits) of efforts to achieve energy, food and water ‘security’ (Clapp 2012). Efforts to increase food security through ‘production’ have resulted in myriad pathological practices, the most pernicious of which may be land-grabbing across the Global South (Swatuk 2017).