A group of civil society organisations are urging the government to put in place policies and legal frameworks that promote the right to safe and affordable food for all Kenyans.

They said that sustainable, inclusive and equitable food systems is vital in tackling hunger, noting that the government had a constitutional duty to ensure everyone has food.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, an estimated 1.9 million people in Kenya are in need of food and the number has been increasing compared to last year whereby 1.3 million people were in a food crisis.

The statistics suggest that an industry-orientated food system fails to address the problem of hunger for millions of Kenyans.

The UN is organizing a food systems summit in September to support bold action for positive transformation on how food is produced, distributed and consumed.

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One way to engage people more broadly in the summit is through the food systems summit dialogues.

The independent United Nations Food Systems Dialogue was convened by Rural Outreach Africa (ROA), Welthunger Hilfe (WHH), African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC), Scaling up Nutrition Movement (SUN) and Route to Food Initiative (RTFI), all groups that champion the right to adequate food.

Prof Ruth Oniang’o, a Kenyan scholar of nutrition said the dialogues are offering citizens the opportunity to contribute directly to the summit’s ambitious vision and objectives.

Independent dialogues will inform the summit process and help to guide action towards a future of food that is sustainable, equitable and secure.

According to Prof Oniang’o the dialogues are necessary as it is embarrassing that Kenyans are food insecure despite policies and noble objectives to address hunger and malnutrition.

Prof Jill Ghai, a panellist at the Independent Dialogue called on the government to respect the right to food as espoused in the Constitution of Kenya Article 43 1 (c).

“Every person has a right to be free from hunger. Twenty years ago, this would have sounded absurd. However, now we have a claim on this human right, which is very different from politicians giving out food. Food security is not for political manifestos, it is protected by the highest law,” said Prof Jill.

Dr Elizabeth Kimani Murage, a Public Health Nutrition Specialist and a Research Scientist at APHRC, noted that food commodification has not only killed the essence of farming whose goal was to ensure food security for everyone but also made it a profit-driven venture.

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Dr Murage said there is a need to recognise food as a vital need and have it recognised alongside the right to health and education and supported by various governments through policies and legal frameworks.

Participants drawn from producers, consumer groups, local and national government, local and international NGOs, and human rights groups expressed that consumers have a role to play in ensuring food safety. One participant expressed that harmful production practices continue because markets allow it. Every action from production, distribution and storage should be mindful of food systems sustainability.

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