Kenya Nutrition Symposium | Stepping up Commitments and Scaling Up Nutrition

March 10, 2015 - Last update: February 10, 2023

First Lady, Margaret Kenyatta at the ACF exhibition, with FSNS Manager Kevin Mutegi

On 18th February 2015, the Government of Kenya hosted a two day National Nutrition Symposium in Nairobi to ‘step up commitments to scale up nutrition in Kenya’. The guest of honor, First Lady, Margaret Kenyatta, in her new role as the country’s Nutrition Champion, welcomed efforts under the the Scaling Up Nutrition umbrella which is bringing together stakeholders from government ministries, donors, UN agencies, civil society and business. She especially praised the efforts of the Nutrition Inter-agency Coordinating Committee (NICC) in their efforts towards improving the nutrition sensitivity of agriculture. Addressing malnutrition is essential for Kenya to achieve their “Vision 2030” goal of transforming Kenya into a globally competitive and prosperous nation with a high quality of life by 2030.

“This multi-sectoral programme marks a significant shift in Kenya’s approach to tackling malnutrition in the country. The Government of Kenya welcomes the fact that our partners have made a commitment to work together to help build the resilience of Kenya’s most vulnerable communities.” Margaret Kenyatta, First Lady, Kenya

The objectives of the Symposium were to:

Sensitise and update nutrition stakeholders on the progress of scaling up nutrition efforts in Kenya
Share challenges, opportunities and lessons learnt in efforts which use a multi-sectoral approach to address malnutrition
Advocate for commitment to increased funding for the nutrition sector b the government, donors and development partners to increase productivity and economic development to realise Kenya Vision 2030.

Kenya, European Union and UNICEF Maternal and Child Nutrition Programme

The event also marked the launch of the multi-million euro Kenya, European Union and UNICEF Maternal and Child Nutrition Program. The four-year Nutrition Resilience Programme is aimed at improving maternal and child nutrition. A focus of the programme is to reduce the impact of the recurrent food shortages and crises that have undermined the health and development of communities in Kenya’s semi-arid and arid lands, using a multi-sectoral approach that focuses on prevention and treatment of malnutrition. The target population are women and children under the age of 5 in the nine counties of Kilifi, Kitui, Kwale, Mandera, Samburu, Tana River, Turkana, Wajir and West Pokot.

“The EU is committed to this programme as development is one of our central goals,as well as having a detrimental impact on the economy, malnutrition hinders efforts to reduce poverty. In addition, recurrent and prolonged droughts have exposed Kenya’s arid and semi-arid counties to repeated food and nutrition crises. This programme will contribute to build resilience and protect the economy against these types of shocks.” – Marjaana Sall, EU Chargé d’Affaires

The aim of the programme is for partners and civil society to work together to strengthen health systems and to empower communities to cope better with the impact of drought and other crises. This involves adopting healthier practices, such as hospital births, exclusive breastfeeding, diversified and age appropriate infant feeding practices and better hygiene.

“Malnutrition is a public health concern in Kenya; it has cost the lives of our children and undermined the healthy physical and cognitive development of thousands of others. Despite Kenya’s economic growth over the past 20 years, we have been unable to reduce our high rates of malnutrition. Recent official data estimates that 2.8 million or one third of Kenyan children under the age of 5 are stunted.” – James W. Macharia, Minister of Health, Kenya

According to the joint press release, if malnutrition is not addressed, the cost of malnutrition to Kenya’s economy over the next 20 years will be an estimated Ksh. 3.2 trillion (US$35 billion) and 527,000 lives will be lost. To put it in perspective:

19,000 child lives will be lost every year due to being underweight;
10, 000 child lives will be lost every year due to being vitamin A deficient;
11,000 child lives will be lost every year due to inadequate child feeding practices.

Downloads:

Learn more at UNICEF ESARO, The Star, Save the Children Kenya

Learn about the 2012 National SUN Symposium

Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Initiative

The Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Initiative (BFN) – officially the “Mainstreaming Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use for Improved Human Nutrition and Well-being” project – was launched in April 2012 and participated in the event. The BFN addressed concerns over the disappearance of agricultural biodiversity, with nutritional potential, in four countries: Brazil, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Turkey. Dr Victor Wasike, National Project Coordinator for the BFN Initiative in Kenya, says that participation in the NICC has provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the work that the BFN initiative is undertaking at the county and grassroots level and has also contributed to advocacy for the use of biodiversity in food-based interventions to tackle malnutrition. The BFN with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Organization (KALRO) is supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health.

Learn more about the Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Initiative

Learn more about the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health.

Kenya Vision 2030

The Kenya Vision 2030 is the national long-term development blue-print that aims to transform Kenya into a newly industrialising, middle-income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030 in a clean and secure environment.The Vision comprises of three key pillars: Economic; Social; and Political. The Economic Pillar aims to achieve an average economic growth rate of 10 per cent per annum and sustaining the same until 2030. The Social Pillar seeks to engender just, cohesive and equitable social development in a clean and secure environment, while the Political Pillar aims to realise an issue-based, people-centred, result-oriented and accountable democratic system.

Learn more at Kenya Vision 2030