Kenya’s Response to its Raging Food Catastrophe!

By the USDA’s definition of food insecurity, it’s the “access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life.”

Food insecurity is a globally experienced crisis with its impact and response varying in degree considerably between different countries around the globe. Sub-Saharan African countries like Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Malawi, and South Africa are racing against time to limit food shocks to a manageable level, a cyclic problem that has caused perennial food shortages. 

About 80% of the land in Kenya is considered Arid and Semi-Arid (ASAL). A region that is resource-deficient and water-stressed with a low potential for agricultural production to sustain vulnerable households. 

In the 2022 Global Hunger Index, Kenya ranks 94th out of 121 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2022 GHI scores. With a score of 23.5, Kenya has a level of hunger that is serious.

According to IPC’s current analysis, it is estimated that around 4.4 million people (27% of the ASAL population) are facing high levels of Acute Food Insecurity – IPC AFI Phase 3 (Crisis) or above. About 774,000 people are in IPC AFI Phase 4 (Emergency). 

This compared to the same period last year, represents a 43% increase in population in IPC Phase 3 or above. While also compared to the previous analysis period (October-December 2022), the prevalence of population in IPC AFI Phase 3 or above is similar – with a reduction of the population in IPC Phase 4.

Yet, in the projected period, March – June 2023, the severity of food insecurity is expected to worsen again: about 5.4 million people (32% of the population analyzed) are projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC AFI Phase 3 or above), of which 1.2 million people (7%) will likely be in Emergency. 

This latest projection represents the highest magnitude and severity of acute food insecurity in the ASAL areas in years; urgent action is required to reduce food gaps, protect their livelihoods, and prevent and treat acute malnutrition.

Drought is a fact of life for people from regions like Lodwar, Wajir, Mandera, Turkana, Isiolo, and Norr, with prolonged dry spells and temperatures skyrocketing to an unprecedented rate pushing the cost of living to an all-time high. Low-income families below the poverty line are more vulnerable and experience food shocks and insecurities disproportionately.

Climate change has a great share to food insecurities but it is safe to think food insecurity cannot exist in isolation due to other compounding and overlapping issues as key contributors to its accrued increase and intensity. 

These are exponential increases in human population, poverty, unemployment, lack of affordable housing, underlying health issues, and systemic racism that have exacerbated the problem of food production, distribution, and access.

Kenya’s current population has tripled in the last 35 years causing a strain on natural resources, leaving young people, women, and children increasingly vulnerable to poverty and malnutrition. 

Increased land fragmentation due to population pressure in agriculture-rich areas has led to a huge decline in food stock and productivity, causing strain on food security development planning. Increased urbanization is also causing shrinkage in agricultural lands i.e. Kiambu, causing a consequent reduction in food production and supply. 

Effects of food insecurity

• Can stem serious health issues with a lack of good balance on where to spend money either food or medical care.
• Stunted Growth and malnutrition in children.

Challenges faced by the government

• Climate change

Agriculture is heavily dependent on rain-fed systems and with lack of sufficient rainfall, it causes food shortages and inflation of food prices.

• Poor infrastructure 

This compels farmers to sell crops at low prices leading to reduced incomes and less investment capital in agriculture.

• Inequality in accessing food

People living below the poverty line with low income are limited to accessing certain types of food due to high costs limiting them to just a few dietary options.

Government efforts

The ministry has designed a blueprint food development model to underscore and address core issues that lower the capacity to respond to food crises effectively. 

The scheme aims to reduce input cuts and wastage in fostering sustainable agricultural practices and crop production, especially for smallholder farmers and small-scale farming. The main impediment to achieving sustainable food production in Kenya is attributed to lower crop productivity.

This is driven by, among others, poor extension systems, low input usage, and climate change since Kenya’s Agriculture is mainly rainfall-dependent. 

Yara East Africa has been mandated to offer agricultural training for smallholder farmers, offering sustainable fertilizer advisory solutions in revitalizing and regenerating soil nutrients and soil health to make farming enterprises and thriving ventures.

Its multi-nutrient fertilizers like MiCROP provide up to six nutrients: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Magnesium, Sulphur, and Zinc, in different proportions that address the soil and crop needs. Input of this fertilizer increases the maize yields by up to 1.4 tonnes in an Acre. Ultimately, this would help improve farmers' competence in crop production, create income-generating opportunities, improving livelihoods consequently boosting the rural economy.

Joint and collective action between the government, NGOs, and NPOs through their DRR operations, Relief and hunger programs, and poverty alleviation programs has yielded impactworthy results in a wrestle against hunger.

Solutions 

1. Government improving agricultural Credits through agricultural finance corporations for credit-constraint smallholder farmers.
2. Infrastructure and transport link improvement to promote and access regional trading and markets.
3. The government should establish synergies with other development actors like the private sector in the food security planning process.
4. Government integrating family planning program by increasing supply and allocation of FP services and resources. This enables families to plan and space childbearing increasing their capacity to provide food for their family.
5. The government should underscore the urgency of planned urbanization to safeguard agriculturally potential lands by limiting the drastic growth of urban centers.
6. Population structure to be factored in agricultural productivity addressing the varying nutrient requirements and preference 
7. Climate change awareness to reduce forest encroachment thus protecting and enhancing carbon sequesters in strides to mitigate climate change with further scaling up food production, boosting the rural economy, and improving livelihoods.