An urgent call to tackle Food insecurity in Africa: Kenya’s Food Policy
The significance of food security and good nutrition to human life is universally acknowledged. Access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food is a basic human right, with priority given to the most vulnerable. In fact, it is recognized that food security and good nutrition are often tools for human capital development (HLPE, 2020) and community self-reliance. It provides jobs, enhances culture, enables community and supports public health. Moreover, human capital is key for development as it leads to improved lives for individuals, higher earnings and improved incomes for countries (FAO et al, 2015). Access to food provides numerous positive impacts including economic growth and job creation, women’s empowerment, poverty reduction, trade opportunities amongst countries, increased global security and stability and improved health and healthcare (FAO et al, 2015).
Against this backdrop, the African Union Resolution on the Right to Food in Africa has called for the right to food as inherent in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to the rights to life, health and economic, social and cultural development. However, food insecurity and good nutrition remain a grave threat to the right to food and life for millions of Africans. A number of African countries, especially those in East Africa continue facing the devastating health and socio-economic challenges caused by food insecurity, the most vulnerable being children, refugees, women, persons with disabilities and internally displaced persons.
It is not surprising then that in Africa, countries actively promote food security and good nutrition to their communities, both rural and urban, by coming up with food policies and programs at national level. This follows international trends such as the Sustainable Development Goals (goal 2) and the African Union Agenda 2063 (Aspiration 1), which seek to advance issues of food security and good nutrition as key drivers to socio-economic development of Africa. It is anticipated that the appropriate provision of food is a critical pathway to transforming socio, economic and political activities (AU, 2022). However, food security has to be effectively provided for it to play an important role in the socio-economic transformation of societies.
The irony is that, there is a strong call for ensuring food security and good nutrition, but there has been very little success achieved in Africa. Out of the 18 countries identified in 2020 as global hotspots for crisis by the World Food Programme, 13 are located in Africa. Similarly, FAO et al (2020) gives how one-fifth of the African population (256 million) are hungry, an increase of 44 million since the year 2014. In the past 20 years, the prevalence of undernourishment in Africa has been highest in the Eastern and Central Africa. However, the prevalence of hunger has increased as of 2014 in West and Central Africa, mostly as a result of the unending armed conflicts (AU, 2022).
Kenya, just like any other African countries, has not been exempted from these food challenges. IPC (2021) gives how 2.1 million people in Kenya's ASAL region are highly food insecure due to failed rains, low agricultural production and high food prices. Over 650,000 children under 5 and over 96,000 pregnant or lactating women are acutely malnourished. Food security in Kenya is closely linked to poverty which is estimated at 46 % nationally. Kenya, which also highly depends on extra-regional imports for food, in particular from Europe has felt the most in terms of food security.
Moreover, The COVID-19 pandemic has increased unemployment and breaks in supply chains, with border closures which have restricted trade and limited food availability in Kenya. Coupled with the crisis caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the effects have been unbearable, particularly to vulnerable communities, who have already been affected by extreme weather and other emergencies, as food and fertilizer prices have soared while stable food supplies and humanitarian rations decreased (TechnoServe, 2022). As wars and health pandemics hit Europe (Russo-Ukraine Crisis), their repercussions trickle down to Kenya causing socio-economic instability and disruptions in trade and logistics has been felt. This has resulted in food shortages and increases in food prices in Kenya.
The Kenyan Demographic and Health Survey (2020) ascertains how more than a quarter (26 %) of children under the age of five are malnourished that they have become stunted, or too short for their age. This has both short- and long-term consequences for the individual, society and the economy of Kenya. Rates of stunting have sharply increased as high as 46 % in some counties like Kitui and West Pokot. The Survey further shows how across the country, more than one in ten children (11 %) are underweight, with four per cent being wasted, or underweight for their height. To add on, the Kenya Cost of Hunger Study (2019) shows that the effects of the aforementioned are devastating and has a huge economic cost: the country lost 6.9 of its GDP due to undernutrition in one year (2014).
To tackle food security and malnutrition in Kenya, the government launched new measures, aiming to improve Kenyans’ health, nutrition and quality of life, boost their immunity against diseases including COVID-19, accelerate social and economic growth in the country and also to tackle the effects of food security exacerbated by the ongoing Russian-Ukraine Crisis. These measures include the implementation framework for securing a breastfeeding friendly environment at workplaces (2020-2024) and the Kenya Nutrition Action Plan (2018-2022) which are being supported by UNICEF and other partners. The action plan which is being implemented, is aiming at tackling malnutrition throughout the stages of life as analysts have remarked.
The Kenya Nutrition Action Plan (KNAP) therefore outlines a multi-faceted approach to managing the root causes of malnutrition: from community health services, to food production, education, social protection and safe water supply. Alongside the KNAP, the Government also launched a plethora of supporting strategies, designed to help tackle food security. These include:
The Kenya Agri-Nutrition Strategy (2020 to 2024) which focuses on securing access to safe, diverse and nutritious food, by strengthening the national food chain and community production.
The Implementation Framework for securing a breastfeeding friendly environment at workplaces (2020-2024). This provides a coordinated implementation and monitoring of interventions to support breastfeeding in the workplaces both in the public and private sectors.
The Kenya Nutrition Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (2018 to 2022) which is ensuring Government and partners to monitor the progress and success of the KNAP.
The National Nutrition Fact Sheet, Programmatic Guidelines and Policies on Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition. These guidelines explain a range of supportive measures authorities and communities can take, from breastfeeding-friendly workplaces to vitamin A supplementation.
The Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network Kenya Strategy (2019 to 2023). This recognises the role of the private sector in making safe and nutritious food available and affordable.
Food policy in Kenya has aimed at ensuring an adequate and stable supply of safe and nutritious food; enhancing purchasing power of the people for increased food accessibility and ensuring adequate nutrition for all especially to the vulnerable especially women and children. Notable remarks have been evidenced within the Kenyan policy to tackle the issue of food security. However, the full success of this food policy depends on implementation at its broadest sense. Tackling food security in Kenya, which has devastated its citizens means dealing with the root causes of food securities that have been mentioned in this paper. It is thus the full responsibility of the government of Kenya to make sure policy addresses the real food and nutrition issues that its citizens are facing. Moreover guidelines, strategies and plans should also address these causes. Conclusively, Kenya through its food policy has taken steps in improving food security and nutrition for its citizens.
REFERENCES
African Union. (2022, January 1). 2022: The Year of Nutrition. African Union. https://au.int/en/theme/2022/year-nutrition
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Food Program (WFP). (2015). The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015. Meeting the 2015 international hunger targets: taking stock of uneven progress. Rome, FAO.
High Level Panel of Experts of Nutrition (HLPE). (2020). Food security and nutrition: building a global narrative towards 2030. A report by the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security, Rome.
TechnoServe. (2022, June 9). What Is Food Security and How Does it Affect the World? What Is Food Security and How Does It Affect the World? https://www.technoserve.org/blog/what-is-food-security-how-affect-world/