Agricultural challenges emerge in Kenya and Ghana

In Kenya, a shift toward high-profit cash crops such as tea, coffee, pyrethrum, and avocados is threatening national food security. A Senate report indicates that major food-producing regions, including the North Rift and western Kenya, are moving toward monoculture farming at the expense of staple crops like maize and beans. This trend, combined with rapid urban expansion and real estate encroachment on fertile land in counties like Kiambu, Machakos, and Kajiado, risks increasing dependency on expensive food imports.

In Ghana, residents of the Shai-Osudoku District have staged protests to demand government intervention regarding poor road infrastructure and the collapse of the local rice market. Farmers in hubs like Asutsuare report that thousands of bags of locally produced rice remain unsold in warehouses due to the dominance of imported rice. Demonstrators have called on the government to implement protective policies for the local industry and requested that the National Food Buffer Stock Company purchase existing stockpiles to prevent financial losses.