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Africa’s dividing farmlands a threat to food security

by Miriam Gathigah

Mary Wanjiru is a farmer from Nyeri County in central Kenya. Experts say that Africa’s extensive land subdivision is emerging as a significant threat to food security. Photo: Miriam Gahtigah/IPS

NAIROBI, Sep 10 2014 (IPS) – When Kiprui Kibet pictures his future as a maize farmer in the fertile Uasin Gishu county in Kenya’s Rift Valley region, all he sees is the ever-decreasing plot of land that he has to farm on.

“I used to farm on 40 hectares but now I only have 0.8 hectares. My father had 10 sons and we all wanted to own a piece of the farmland. Subdivision … ate into the actual farmland,” Kibet tells IPS. “From 3,200 bags a harvest, now I only produce 20 bags, at times even less.”

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