Kenya is a country in North East Africa (also known as the Horn of Africa) located on the Indian Ocean coastline. The countries in the Horn of Africa have been frequently hit by droughts that lasted for decades. As a result of this, Kenya suffered and still suffers from extreme food shortages that lead to illnesses and in many cases to death. To understand Kenya’s struggles and progress, below are the top 10 facts about hunger in Kenya.
Top 10 Facts about Hunger in Kenya
1. Kenya has a population of 46 million people. Of this number, 25 percent or 11.5 million people live in underdeveloped housing and suffer from a variety of harmful living conditions such as food insecurity and diseases. The people who are most vulnerable to food scarcity live in dry areas, which is about 80 percent of the land.
2. The number one cause of death of children under five years old is malnutrition. According to the World Food Programme, 337,000 children under five years old suffer from malnutrition.
3. Twenty-five percent of children in Kenya suffer from stunted growth due to poor nutrition.
4. Food scarcity is nothing new to East Africa.
According to World Vision , poor climate and instability are the main causes of East Africa’s hunger. Droughts are extremely common and affect food-production, which leads to malnutrition.
5. Instability is a consequence of years of political and social conflicts that make prices and food affected. Climate Change News states that due to political opposition and a lack of tools to run a government smoothly, the annual food inflation in Kenya increased 18.6 percent in 2017.
6. Between July 2011 and mid-2012, East Africa experienced a drought that was known as the worst in 60 years, leaving 13 million people affected with a severe food crisis in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. Hundreds of thousands of
Somali people escaped to Kenya and Ethiopia to seek food and shelter. This has put more stress on Kenya and Ethiopia as the two already crowded countries. Huffington Post reported that the overall death rate is about seven out of 10,000 people a day while the average crisis rate is usually two person per day.
7. Fortunately, the number of people in Kenya affected by food insecurity has improved from 3.4 million in 2017 to 2.6 million in 2018. This significant improvement is a direct result of more rain and living necessities supplied to the people in need.
8. While there are millions of people in Kenya that are still in need of help, health and nutrition services have been extended out to two million people.
9. During droughts, food prices escalate. In Kenya, maize prices rose 30 percent. However, people are still able to purchase this life staple due to increased imports from Uganda .
10. Africa has the most people living in extreme poverty and facing food shortages. Food shortages are so severe that many children cannot go to school because schools are forced to close. According to Save the Children organization, only 30 percent of boys and 20 percent of girls are enrolled in school during droughts, and only a few complete their education. In addition, 4.7 million children across East Africa are at risk of dropping out of school due to the drought’s impact. The Kenyan government promised to donate money for food aid but has only given 4,000 bags of maize that can last only for a week.
Food is a necessity to live but in Kenya food almost seems like a privilege since so many obstacles need to be faced in order to feed a family. Besides food shortages, Kenyans have to deal with a horrendous climate and an unstable government which creates a cycle of unfortunate events.
These top 10 facts about hunger in Kenya give an idea of the struggles these people have to face. Fortunately, Kenya continues to lift itself up out of poverty with the help from surrounding countries.
– Kristen Uedoi
Photo: Flickr
SEPTEMBER 27, 2018
“The Borgen Project is an incredible nonprofit organization that is addressing poverty and hunger and working towards ending them.”
– The Huffington Post
TANZANIA HAIKUWAHI KUTANGAZWA NA UKAME KAMA HIVI EMBU ZINDUKA WEWEEEE MM MTOTO KUKUZIDI ILI INAONEKANA NINA AKILI YA KUFIKIRI KUKUZIDI.
People Reached by Food Security and Livelihoods Programs
Kenya is a middle-income country, but its prosperity and growth have been uneven. The nation is home to more than 44 million people, 80 percent of whom live in rural areas and rely almost entirely on seasonal rainfall to make their living from small-scale farming. When the rains fail, crops fail—and people are left without a source of food or income. About 80 percent of the land in Kenya is arid or semi-arid, and nearly half of the population live below the poverty line. Communities in arid and semi-arid regions face immense challenges, including drought, hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Last year, erratic and below-average rainfall contributed to limited harvests, smaller crop yields, loss of livestock, high food prices, and water shortages. Isiolo, West Pokot, and Samburu Counties faced critical food insecurity. 301,000 children were acutely malnourished.
In 2017, we strengthened health systems, infrastructure, and local capacity to implement lifesaving activities and nutrition services. With partners, we improved food security through unconditional cash transfers and food vouchers. We improved health and nutrition through integrated community health outreach, and provided access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene education. With the county government in West Pokot, we improved nutrition and health among children under five and strengthened access to safe water, sanitation, and improved hygiene.
We support county governments in reducing the risk of drought through early warning systems, data analysis, and identification of local means to address hunger and malnutrition. We worked with the National Drought Management Authority to increase community capacity to identify and manage risks by developing disaster risk management plans and linking them to county-level plans.
In Isiolo, we reached 36,000 children under five, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers with blanket supplementary feeding to prevent hunger and malnutrition. We provided 3,000 households with food assistance through cash transfers and supported 15,000 beneficiaries with health and nutrition services. In Samburu, we implemented an emergency and capacity building project for health and nutrition interventions.
Action Against Hunger has been working in Kenya since 2002. We currently have programs in four counties: Nairobi, West Pokot, Isiolo, and Tana River.
WHAT WE ACHIEVED IN 2017
Nutrition, Health, and Care Practices: 76,514
Strengthened local health systems and reached at-risk children with lifesaving treatment for acute undernutrition
Brought quality care directly to communities
Mobilized peer support groups for mothers and fathers to improve nutrition
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene: 3,000
Increased the supply of clean water
Improved sanitation
Prevented the spread of cholera
Food Security, Livelihoods, and Disaster Risk Management:
Asa hiyo GDP KUBWA INAWASAIDIA NINI ETI JAMAAA?!
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