Kenya serves up $5 billion to tackle hunger

A food and nutrition programme has been launched to tackle food insecurity in drought-prone counties.

The 10-year Food and Nutrition Resilience Program (FNRP) was launched on Friday by the Government, Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) in collaboration with the African Union (AU) and development partners.

The USD 5 billion (Sh38.8 million) initiative is aimed at transforming food security and nutrition in 24 Arid and Semi-Arid (ASAL) counties, benefiting 5 million vulnerable people.

The FNRP is part of a broader Horn of Africa Food and Nutrition Resilience Program initiated by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the African Union (AU) to combat food insecurity across Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

In the recent past, Kenya has grappled with a cyclic climate crisis, experiencing increasing temperatures and recurrent climate induced hazards that have resulted in significant lives and livelihoods.

For instance, in 2023, approximately 6.4 million people needed humanitarian assistance, with 5.4 million suffering from acute food insecurity.

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While recent rainfall has brought temporary relief, the most affected households continue to struggle due to chronic socio-economic vulnerabilities made worse by prolonged droughts and recent severe flooding caused by El Niño.

With weathermen also predicting that March-May rains might be depressed in some areas especially Northern counties, the food insecurity issue lingers among many Kenyans. Coupled with epidemics, the situation has continued to deteriorate.

Kenya’s predominantly low-lying coastline and surrounding islands are at risk from sea-level rise, posing significant threats to the fisheries sector and storm surge protection.

Agriculture, which is vital to the country's economy, remains highly vulnerable, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions that constitute 80 percent of Kenya’s land area.

Inefficient food systems contribute to skyrocketing prices and insufficient market supplies, further limiting access to food for vulnerable communities.

This has in turn resulted in malnutrition amongst the affected communities, an increase in incidences and prevalence of communicable and non-communicable diseases, and enhanced resource-based conflicts due to the limited availability of the same.

FNRP is a multi-sectoral approach designed to address food and nutrition insecurity through four key pillars.

They are livelihood support and water, which will involve empowering communities through resilient agricultural practices, value chain development, and increased access to clean water.

Secondly, is environmental sustainability by promoting ecosystem restoration, sustainable waste management, and climate-resilient food production.

Thirdly, it will involve health and nutrition by strengthening health systems to support nutrition programs aligned with the Kenya Nutrition Action Plan and Vision 2030.

Finally, it will include protection, gender and Inclusion, peace and security. This will involve embedding cross-cutting themes across all interventions.

Speaking at the launch, Charles Businge, Regional Director, IFRC Africa, emphasised the program’s significance in tackling climate-induced food crises.

 “This program is a game-changer for Kenya’s food security. By strengthening local institutions and government systems, investing in public-private partnerships to ensure sustainability, and putting communities at the centre of decision-making and implementation, we are ensuring that vulnerable communities are not only fed but also empowered to sustain themselves,” said Businge.

Secretary General of KRCS Dr. Ahmed Idris called for collaboration across multiple sectors, including government agencies, humanitarian organisations, the private sector, and community leaders to ensure the success of the programme.

“The FNRP is an ambitious program that showcases the power of partnerships in addressing hunger and malnutrition sustainably. Our approach integrates innovation, indigenous knowledge, and technology to drive impactful change.”

He said the programme will be divided into three phases, with phase one being the first year, where planning and partnership building for resources mobilisation will take place.

 “The second phase of six years will be implementation, building infrastructure and the last phase of three years will be learning and building sustainability,” he said, adding that funding will come from the multi-partners mentioned above.

The programme will work closely with communities and stakeholders to ensure culturally sensitive and sustainable solutions.

Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Development food security specialist Dr. Mary Mwale said the activities will be sectoral-based with key sectors being agriculture, water and health and others including environment, education, social protection and trade.

“Different partners are supposed to utilise our policy framework and the various strategies we have develop din the different sectors as they align to requirements of these  different areas including weather and early warning information to identify key areas or activities to focus on,” she said.

Veronica Kirogo, director of nutrition and dietetics service in the State Department of Public Health and Professional Standards in the Ministry of Health welcomed the programme launch, saying it seeks to solve many issues apart from food insecurity including micronutrient deficiency (hidden hunger).

“From the Ministry of Health, where nutrition policy is domiciled, we feel this is the right way to go because it is in the 24 counties where we have the biggest burden of malnutrition," said Kirrogo.

She added: "At any  one year, we are having between 0.5 million to 1 million children below five years who  are suffer from acute malnutrition and who need treatment because they lack food."

Kirogo added the project will reduce the amount that goes to child under nutrition, totalling to about Sh374 billion every year, which is approximately 70 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“We are also looking at investing in resilience because we have faced persistent acute malnutrition, which affects future productivity of our children. When you look at the human capital index, it is currently at 55 percent, meaning  a that a child born in Kenya will only be able to realise only 55 percent of his or her potential in future,” she said.

Dr Asha Mohamed, Head at IFRC Delegation and Permanent Representative to the AU said the regional programme targets 34 million people in the four countries.

She said the idea is to look at all mentioned affected key areas above but also at more importantly looking at linking humanitarian needs and long term development.

"The four governments' ministries agriculture and other related like health, finance will play big part and others like Intergovernmental Authority on Development IGAD for technical support and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for resource mobilisation will participate with hope to scale the lessons learnt to other countries," she said.