- She spoke during the launch of the ENOUGH campaign by the World Vision Kenya.
- World Vision says nearly 900,000 Kenyan children aged six months to five years need assistance with acute malnutrition and food security
Image: HANDOUT
First Lady Rachel Ruto has called for strengthened interventions to reduce malnutrition.
She said more needs to be done despite the reduced levels.
“We've made significant strides, but 847,000 Kenyan children under five face acute malnutrition, down 14.5 per cent from last year. There is no greater indignity than children attending school hungry,” Rachel said.
She spoke during the launch of the ENOUGH campaign by the World Vision Kenya.
The Sh228 billion ($1.7 billion) campaign seeks to address the escalating hunger crisis, targeting to improve the nutritional status of children in 27 vulnerable countries.
It also seeks to address the alarming prevalence of food insecurity and ensure every child has access to nutritious food.
“We must unite to scale up interventions in food security, health, nutrition and finance to reach our goal of less than five per cent childhood wasting by 2025,” Rachel said.
She said advocating for enough nutritious food for every child, both at home and in school, through ethical and sustainable sourcing is commendable.
World Vision says nearly 900,000 Kenyan children aged six months to five years need assistance with acute malnutrition and food security.
Malnutrition persists in arid counties due to multiple failed rains seasons, inadequate child feeding practices and high disease rates.
Approximately 342 million people in Africa are severely food-insecure, accounting for one-third of the global severely food insecure population.
Child-focused humanitarian organisation aim to improve the nutritional status of vulnerable children through targeted interventions.
Conflict, climate shocks, rising cost of living and declining food production have all contributed to food scarcity and high food prices.
The 2023 Global Hunger Index says Kenya ranks 90th out of the 125 countries with sufficient data to calculate last year's GHI scores. With a score of 22.0, Kenya has a level of hunger that is serious.
"Our vision is a world where every child enjoys enough nourishing food. Despite advancements, the statistics remain staggering," said World Vision Kenya chairperson Dr David Githanga.
Globally, up to 783 million people faced hunger in 2022.
Last year, World Vision Kenya invested more than Sh13 billion to projects directly contributing to food and nutrition security.
The projects benefited more than 1.9 million children and 1.5 million adults.
Through integrated health programmes, the organisation operated in 21 counties, focusing on child protection and disease prevention.
Additionally, humanitarian efforts provided vital assistance to 1.3 million individuals affected by emergencies, with over 780,000 children receiving life-saving aid.
Gilbert Kamanga, national director said more needs to be done to address the malnutrition.
“No child in Kenya. should die from hunger and malnutrition. We are intensifying our advocacy and collaboration efforts to work with government, partners and communities to develop and implement sustainable solutions," he said.
"We must prioritise awareness, community resilience and long-term strategies to address the root cause of hunger."
The government is committed to enhance school meals programme and is working with multiple stakeholders to find innovative and sustainable funding sources.
It also seeks to expand the coverage from the current 1.9 million children to universal coverage by 2030.