The Food

Manifesto
Putting Food On The Table
Table of Contents

Why a Food Manifesto? 1

Key Indicators on Current Food and Nutrition Security Status 2

Common Misconceptions About Hunger in Kenya 3

The 9 Proposals 5

1. Prioritize the Food and Nutrition Security Agenda

2. Fulfilment of State Obligations on the Right to Food

3. Enhance Producer Incomes and Livelihoods

4. Ensure Food Safety

5. Revamp Extension Services in the Country

6. Service Delivery and Access to Infrastructure in ASAL areas

7. Increase Budgetary Allocation to Agriculture

8. Seed Sovereignty

9. Increase Coverage in Social Safety nets for vulnerable households

Contributing Organisations 14
The Food Manifesto: Putting Food on The Table

Why a Food Manifesto?

Food and nutrition insecurity continues to be one of Kenya's biggest problems. While
technological advancements, enhancement of infrastructure and education, and other factors
have changed over the last 58 years of independent Kenya, food insecurity has remained a
perennial problem. Most Kenyans are affected by different levels and forms of food and
nutrition insecurity as the government seemingly struggles to fulfil the Human Right to Food
as enshrined in the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 – Article 43 1(c).

Over the past years, the country's food and nutrition security challenges have continued to
rise and become even more complicated owing to population increase, global food market
forces, climate change, and emerging production issues such as pests and diseases. Even the
section of the population that appears food secure is not guaranteed nutritious, diverse and
safe food. Key food safety issues in Kenya include misuse of chemical pesticides in
agricultural production and contamination during transportation of food items at markets.

Based on this context, it is imperative that all political leaders incorporate the food agenda in
their manifestos and explicitly provide their proposed solutions to the food and nutrition
insecurity challenge in the country. This brief provides insights collected from various
stakeholders on the status and solutions to addressing food insecurity and advancing the
attainment of the Right to Adequate Food for all in Kenya. This will be a useful guide for
political parties in their manifesto drafting process.
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 The Food Manifesto: Putting Food on The Table

Key Indicators
More than
14.5M
Chronic Food Insecurity
More than 14.5 million Kenyans suffer from chronic food
insecurity. This means that they lack guaranteed access to
Kenyans suffer from
food and are occasionally unable to meet their minimum chronic food insecurity
dietary needs.1 Families headed by women are more likely to
be food insecure than those headed by men.

Severe Food Insecurity

More than 1.5 million Kenyans are constantly exposed to
severe food insecurity and the risk of starvation aggravated
by natural disasters, e.g. drought.2

Child Undernutrition3
More than 25% of children under five (5) years or 2 million
children are undernourished. Child undernutrition occurs
when children do not consume enough calories, protein, or
micronutrients to maintain good health. Mainly assessed
through three measures: stunting (extremely low height for
age), underweight (extremely low weight for age), and
wasting (extremely low weight for height)

Economic Cost of Hunger

Kenya loses an average of KES 373.9 billion (6.9%) of its GDP
every year due to the indirect and long-term impact of child
undernutrition, mainly due to reduced productivity (352.1
billion). The health sector accounts for losses of up to KES
18.6 billion, and the education sector for losses up to KES 3.2
billion4. The statistics are based on figures from 2014.

Food Safety

9/10
Nine (9) out of every ten (10) Kenyans are worried about the
safety of the food they eat every day5

1The Kenya Economic Survey 2018

Kenyans worry about the
2Integrated Food Security Phase Classification
safety of their food.
3https://www.unicef.org/kenya/nutrition

4The Cost of Hunger in Africa (COHA), The Social and Economic Impact of Child

Undernutrition in Kenya
5Food Safety, A consumer perspective

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The Food Manifesto: Putting Food on The Table

Common Misconceptions
About Hunger in Kenya
There are various simplified explanations, misconceptions and myths about the food security
problem in Kenya. Unfortunately, stakeholders continuously use and share misconceptions
and eventually influence the thinking around food and derail the achievement of food and
nutrition security through misdirecting action and misinformed decisions.

Major Myths Demystified

That there are parts of the country that are food
01 secure/food baskets. Food insecurity is mainly
felt at the individual and the household level.
Therefore, assumptions that there are food secure
areas based on overall production in the different
regions can be misleading.

02
Kenyan farmers need cheap fertilizer to lower food prices.
While fertilizer may appear to be an important input in
most cereal foods, it is not a necessity. Alternate methods
to soil fertility management exist and offer more benefits
to farm health and the nutritional value of agricultural
produce than chemical fertilizers. Farmers should be
encouraged to explore other options to reduce exposure
to ever-changing global markets scenarios regarding
imported farm inputs.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are the solution

03 to our food security problem. GMOs are not going to
solve the food security problem in Kenya. GMO seeds
are expensive and not economically viable without
subsidies. There are also a lot of safety and
environmental sustainability issues associated with the
use of GMO seeds. Kenya is better off without GMOs.

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The Food Manifesto: Putting Food on The Table

Major Myths Demystified

Food security is not a problem of increasing the

04 supply of food. It is a problem of demand and
affordability. It does not matter if there is food
available to buy or not, if that food is too
expensive.

05
The notion of 'adequate' is entirely inadequate. food
security is understood in terms of staple food crops, for
example, maize. The focus should be on proper nutrition
and the right to choose widely from dairy. meat, fruits and
vegetables as well as staples.

06
Food security is often equated with the availability or
distribution of emergency food aid. The right to food is
not the right to be fed. It is the right to feed oneself in
dignity.

Sensationalist media reporting during a crisis heavily

influences our understanding of food security. 07
Chronic food insecurity is not famine, starvation or
extreme hunger. It means a person, on a regular
basis, cannot access sufficient and nutritious food in
order to live a meaningful and productive life.

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The Food Manifesto: Putting Food on The Table

The 9 Proposals
1. Prioritize the Food and
Nutrition Security Agenda
To address the problem of food insecurity, there is a need to
change its management and prioritization of the government.
We recommend that:

1. The elected government places food and nutrition security

on a top national agenda i.e. gives it as much prominence
as national security, handles this at the presidency level,
and implements a robust coordination structure for food
and nutrition security issues.
2. There should be a regular presidential address on food and
nutrition security status in the country - at least twice every
year to ensure that all Kenyans and stakeholders are kept
abreast of the issues and the progress being made in
addressing them.

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The Food Manifesto: Putting Food on The Table

2. Fulfilment of State
Obligations on the Right to Food
The party or coalition must fulfil the state obligations to and
enjoyment of the ‘Right to Adequate Food For All’ in line with
the Constitutional provision of Article 43 1 (c). To fulfil these
obligations and ensure that Kenyans enjoy their Right to
Adequate Food, we propose that:

1. The elected government prioritizes the development of a

clear legal framework for the Right to Adequate Food and
justifiability mechanisms.
2. The government reviews all relevant laws and policies to
align them with the right to access adequate and
nutritional food as per the 2010 Constitution.
3. The government takes proactive measures through
relevant policies and public investments to ensure the
progressive realization of the Right to Adequate Food for
all in Kenya.

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The Food Manifesto: Putting Food on The Table

3. Enhance Producer Incomes

and Livelihoods
Reduced agricultural productivity and profitability have
continuously affected producers' incomes and livelihoods in
Kenya. Reduced agricultural productivity and profitability have
continuously affected
producers' incomes Poor Reduced
Harvest Incomes
and livelihoods in
Kenya. This affects
the producers’ ability
Reduced Reduced food
to meet their basic Production/ production/
Investment food security
needs and financial next season
obligations leading to Poor
an unending cycle of Practices

poverty for most of

them. Illustration Showing Cyclical Problems Faced by Producers

To mitigate these effects, we recommend that:

1. The government provides subsidized insurance against
climate-change-related losses for producers.
2. The government develops mechanisms and offers
incentives to enroll producers in government social
security and welfare programs, for instance, NHIF and
NSSF.
3. The government provides adequate knowledge to farmers
on climate change mitigation.
4. The government puts in place mechanisms and incentives
for rural development and investments to create
alternative income sources for rural communities.

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The Food Manifesto: Putting Food on The Table

4. Ensure Food Safety

Food security cannot be achieved without food safety. Today,

major food safety issues in Kenya include high pesticide
use/misuse in production, poor handling practices along the
chain, and lack of sanitation in the markets. To address the
challenge of food safety, we recommend that:

1. The government fast tracks the establishment of a food

safety authority to address all food safety issues.
2. The government withdraws all harmful toxic pesticides
from the Kenyan market. The list of the ingredients can be
found in the Parliamentary Health Committee on Petition
No. 70 of 2019 regarding the withdrawal of harmful
chemical pesticides in the Kenyan market.

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The Food Manifesto: Putting Food on The Table

5. Revamp Extension Services

in the Country

Extension services are an essential pillar in building

sustainable food and farming systems. To enhance extension
services and farmer knowledge support, we recommend that
government commits to:

1. Invest in public extension services (ensure at least one (1)

extension officer per 300 farmers).
2. Integrate farmer knowledge and experiences in national
extension programs.
3. Regulate information and knowledge transfer to farmers
from profit-making companies to curb misinformation and
manipulation of farmers.

ONE
300

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The Food Manifesto: Putting Food on The Table

6. Service Delivery and Access

to Infrastructure in ASAL areas
The biggest food security problem in ASAL areas is access to
infrastructure and inadequate service delivery – both public and
private. There is a need to invest in infrastructure (roads,
markets, energy, communications) in these areas to ensure the
easy flow of goods and commodities. Market systems for
livestock and other ASAL products should also be enhanced to
provide better livelihoods and incomes for communities living in
these areas.

1. Invest in infrastructure development in ASAL areas-

including water access, roads, markets and communication.
2. Ensure service delivery in ASAL areas- including health,
agricultural extension and veterinary services.
3. Ensure security in ASAL areas to address both human-
wildlife conflicts as well as conflict between communities
living in ASAL areas.

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The Food Manifesto: Putting Food on The Table

7. Increase Budgetary
Allocation to Agriculture

Investment in the agriculture sector in Kenya is still low. Over

the last five years- the national budget allocation has not been
more than 4% of the total voting budget to agriculture. Despite
the vast, undisputed importance of the sector for food security
and its contribution to the national GDP. We recommend that:

1. The government increases budgetary allocation to

agriculture to at least 10% of the GDP.
2. Investment towards agriculture is diversified beyond mega
projects to include a focus on supporting smallholder
farming, local, sustainable farming techniques.

3% 10%
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The Food Manifesto: Putting Food on The Table

8. Seed Sovereignty

Seed sovereignty is a critical aspect of the self-determination

of communities and the country as a whole when it comes to
food. To enhance seed sovereignty, we recommend that:

1. The government invests in building strong farmer-managed

seed systems.
2. The government develops/re-structures the current seed
laws to allow farmers to share and trade in their own seeds
freely.
3. The government disowns the GMO projects and avoids
using public resources to support these private, profit-
centred initiatives, which are a threat to Kenya's
indigenous seeds and self-determination.

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The Food Manifesto: Putting Food on The Table

9. Increase Coverage in Social

Safety nets for vulnerable
households
Currently, 37% or 18 million Kenyans live below the poverty
line, and only 1.3 million Kenyans receive predictable and
regular social assistance in cash transfers. There is a large
number not covered by any form of social protection. To
address the gaps in social safety nets, we recommend that:

1. Government increase its financial commitment to social

safety nets proportional to an increase in GDP.
2. The government reviews the list of beneficiaries and
registers new vulnerable persons every year.
3. The government increase allocation to beneficiary
households and disburse cash transfers monthly without
delays.
4. Government ensure transparency in targeting and
inclusion criteria through National Government
Administration Officers (NGAO).

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Contributing Organisations

In order of logos
The Route to Food Initiative, Inter-Sectoral Forum for Agroecology and
Agrobiodiversity, Rural Outreach Africa, The Right to Food Coalition, APHRC,
PELUM Kenya, Consumer Grassroots Association, BIBA, Concern Worldwide
Nutri-Produce, Kenya Organic Agriculture Network, BEACON
Notes

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