We need sustained efforts to tackle malnutrition – First Lady

First Lady Rachel Ruto has called for strengthened interventions to reduce malnutrition.

She said despite the lower levels, more needs to be done.

“We have made significant progress, but 847,000 Kenyan children under the age of five are suffering from acute malnutrition, a 14.5 percent decrease from last year. There is no greater outrage than children going to school hungry,” Rachel said.

She was speaking at the launch of World Vision Kenya’s ENOUGH campaign.

The US$228 billion ($1.7 billion) campaign aims to tackle the escalating hunger crisis, with the aim of improving the nutritional status of children in 27 vulnerable countries.

It also aims to tackle alarming food insecurity and ensure every child has access to nutritious food.

“We must unite to scale up interventions across food security, health, nutrition and finance to achieve our goal of less than five percent child waste by 2025,” Rachel said.

She said it is commendable to advocate for enough nutritious food for every child, both at home and at school, through ethical and sustainable sourcing.

World Vision says nearly 900,000 Kenyan children between the ages of six months and five years need help with acute malnutrition and food security.

Malnutrition persists in arid provinces due to multiple failed rainy seasons, inadequate child feeding practices and high disease rates.

About 342 million people in Africa live in severe food insecurity, representing one-third of the world’s population with severe food insecurity.

A child-focused humanitarian organization aims to improve the nutritional status of vulnerable children through targeted interventions.

Conflict, climate shocks, rising costs of living and declining food production have all contributed to food scarcity and high food prices.

According to the Global Hunger Index 2023, Kenya ranks 90th out of 125 countries with enough data to calculate last year’s GHI scores. With a score of 22.0, Kenya has serious hunger levels.

“Our vision is a world where every child has enough nutritious food. Despite the progress, the statistics remain staggering,” said Dr David Githanga, President of World Vision Kenya.

As many as 783 million people worldwide would face hunger in 2022.

Last year, World Vision Kenya invested more than Sh13 billion in projects that directly contribute to food and nutrition security.

The projects benefited more than 1.9 million children and 1.5 million adults.

Through integrated health programs, the organization was active in 21 provinces, with an emphasis on child protection and disease prevention.

In addition, humanitarian efforts have provided vital assistance to 1.3 million people affected by emergencies, with more than 780,000 children receiving life-saving assistance.

Gilbert Kamanga, national director, says more needs to be done to tackle malnutrition.

“Not a child in Kenya. should die of hunger and malnutrition. We are intensifying our advocacy and partnership efforts to work with government, partners and communities to develop and implement sustainable solutions,” he said.

“We must prioritize awareness, community resilience and long-term strategies to address the root cause of hunger.”

The government is committed to improving the school meals program and working with multiple stakeholders to find innovative and sustainable funding sources.

It also aims to expand coverage from the current 1.9 million children to universal coverage by 2030.