Plurad, Krizea Nae A.

Maam Zenia

Rodriguez
25th of

3 Political Science 2
November 2015

Paper No. I (APEC Break Assignment): Hunger Crisis from the Slums of
Kenya
The present-day of Kenya, a country of scenic beauty, still remains as one of
the most popular destinations in the world for it is the home of many original
safaris, despite having a good image in tourism and even the abundance of natural
resources, Kenya like many other developing countries in Africa today is crippled
with many issues and problems both natural and man-created problems. Many
travel to Kenya for enjoyment and for tourism and that is expected to them that
Kenya, a country full of promise based on beliefs and ideas of beautiful a wildlife
and environment that is often, as we all know, is manipulated by mass media. One
problem is to be elaborated in this paper that will paint a clearer picture of the
situation within Kenya, of the hardships that many experienced daily as opposed to
the overall picture that the world receives from the media.
The world hunger problem primarily consist of the lack of access to food and
sometimes is even interpreted in terms of food shortage. The scope of the problem
of hunger includes not only food shortage but also to where there is not enough
food in a bounded region, food poverty, where there may be sufficient food but
some households do not have sufficient means to obtain it (Millman, 1990), this
definition of the problem in hunger sums up everything about one of the major
issues Kenya is facing until now. Hunger is an ever-present issue in much of Kenya.
Regardless that 75% percent of the population of Kenya are farmers and that of
their abundance of natural resources, which may have been the reason for their
steady economic growth, but this steady economic growth does not seem to benefit
the countrys population. According to FAO, or the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations, that while hunger was shown to be reducing worldwide it was
entirely different from Kenya, for here the trend in hunger is actually sharply
increasing (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2014). From
hunger to malnourishment and from malnourishment to illness or here now comes

their health issues, and what makes things worst for them is that they have poor
sanitation because of their lack supply of clean water (Wiley, 2006).

It is

understood that the cause of malnourishment is that of poverty (the inability to pay
for food) and even the failure of food distribution. More than half of the productive
lands in Kenya, especially those in the western highlands, are owned by foreign
coffee and tea corporations (Logan Abassi, 2014) which explains why most farmers,
instead of growing crops to feed themselves and their fellow Kenyans, grow coffee
and tea and in return have funds which could not even support their families hardly
even for a day so despite all the financial advances,, over half the nation still lives
below the poverty line which spells out why many are living in the slums of Kenya
where all of them are susceptible to disease and illness. This underscores the fragile
status of many people living in Kenya, and also shows how a lack of preventive
actions from the government can easily turn a simple problem into a catastrophe.
Despite that, Kenya largely depends on their agriculture for its food requirements
and with that central role of the agriculture sector in the country and its economy,
the government of Kenya us in the process of finalizing the development of the
Agricultural Sector Development Strategy or the ASDS (Institute Kenya Agricultural
Research, 2012).
ASDSS are only some of the projects of the government that are made to
increase agriculture and improve the lifestyle of the people in Kenya. Considering
that Kenya is a member of the United Nations, the UN itself is extending help to the
nation of Kenya regarding its issue on hunger crisis. It has been more than four
decades that the United Nations and Kenya has been working hand-in-hand in
eradicating poverty, empowering the vulnerable and promoting sustainable
livelihood which has made significant contributions to the development of Kenya.
Projects that have expanded employment opportunities, promoting of human rights
and governance, and also helping the country to improve its health and education
sectors and its agricultural and economic performance are the main activities that
has made way to the United Nations to extend its helping hands to Kenya. There are
25 United Nations agencies and in Kenya, operates two different mandate, the UNEP
or the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Human
Settlements Programme or the UN-HABITAT, both have their global headquarters
located in Kenya at the United Nations Office at Nairobi(UNON) (Porte, 2006). The

impact of the United Nations contribution to the development of Kenya has varied
from sector to sector and that in the sector for hunger crisis it started when the
United Nations started helping Kenya to fight against disease and also the reduction
of child and maternal mortality since the goal of UNEP or the United Nations
Environment Programme is to provide leadership and encourages partnership in
caring for the environment by inspiring and enabling nations and people to improve
their quality of life without compromising that of the future generations (U.S
Department of State, 2012). The World Food Programme or the WFP has had long
history in feeding school children in drought-prone areas and urban slums. In
partnership with the agencies of United Nations and World Food Programme (WFP),
they have provided food assistance to the refugees and to the people in the slums
of Kenya. United Nations has helped Kenya to fight hunger crisis by funding some of
the small industries in Kenya for the need for food self-sufficiency in the country.
The United Nations also draws business to Kenya through its operations to the
neighboring countries, including Sudan and Somalia where these operation are
commonly form of humanitarian supplies and contracts to provide such items as
food, drugs and even blankets. The presence of United Nations agencies in Kenya
not only makes the United Nations an important partner in the development of
Kenya but also makes Kenya an important country to the United Nations in the
African region, in Africa and even in the world in promoting the name itself, the
United Nations. Both United Nations and Kenya are working together to eradicate
extreme poverty and hunger. Kenya hosts nearly a quarter of a million refugees who
have fled from conflict in neighboring countries. The United Nations is helping to
house and feed them. The United Nations is also helping the Government of Kenya
feed the neediest of its own people. Every day the United Nations provides food for
a million schoolchildren. At the same time, the United Nations is working with
groups so they can bolster themselves better and raise their ways of life. By sharing
neighborhood developments and spreading existing learning, the United Nations is
making strides employments for the provincial and urban poor. The United Nations
is likewise making occupations and ease neediness by supporting little endeavors
and manageable industrial development. WFP on the other hand, is providing school
meals to about 770,000 school children in Kenya. These are the most vulnerable
children living in arid and semi-arid lands, semi-arid coastal districts and the slums
of Nairobi. WFP also provides a mid-morning meal for all primary and pre-primary

school children at the refugee camps. WFP is also expanding its Food-for-Assets
(FFA) and Cashfor-Assets (CFA) projects which are designed to promote food
security and the Purchase for Progress (P4P) is a pilot programme through which
WFP is promoting agricultural market development and access for small holder
farmers. WFP is improving the capacity of smallholder farmers to engage in
agricultural markets for their produce. Capacity building involves post-harvest
handling, market information

systems and

access to storage

facilities.

In

implementing P4P, WFP works closely with the Ministry of Agriculture as well as with
partners at district level to increase production and quality, and to encourage
farmers to grow drought-tolerant crops (World Food Programme, 2015).
As a critique, it is actually good that UN has helped Kenya this far and that
the United Nations has helped Kenya if not to remove completely but at least
minimize poverty. UN has provided possible solutions to the hunger crisis Kenya not
only for a short term but for long term solutions. Hunger is only one of the factors
why Kenya still wallows in poverty despite its natural resources and their steady
economic growth, poor leadership and corruption are also reasons for the scourge
fortune the Kenyans are likely to be experiencing right now. Notwithstanding all the
challenges the people in Kenya are facing, they cannot shy away for the reality that
is happening and that the only thing they can do is to believe and stand together to
tackle corruption squarely, stabilize their economy and the most important and that
is to advocate good leadership.

Bibliography
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, I. F. (2014). The State of
Food Security in the World. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4030e.pdf
Institute Kenya Agricultural Research. (2012). Policy responses to Food Crisis in
Kenya. Retrieved from Food Security Portal:
http://www.foodsecurityportal.org/kenya/food-security-report-prepared-kenyaagricultural-research-institute
Logan Abassi. (2014, October 13). Land Ownership and Hunger. Retrieved from
Global Policy Forum: https://www.globalpolicy.org/world-hunger/landownership-and-hunger.html
Porte, P. A. (2006). The United Nations and Kenya: Fifty Years of Partnership. Nairobi,
Kenya: United Nations Office .

Robert W. Kates, S. M. (1990). On Ending Hunger: Lessons of History. Cambridge:

Blackwell Press.
U.S Department of State. (2012). The U.S Mission to the United Nations in Nairobi.
Retrieved from Embassy of the United States:
http://nairobi.usembassy.gov/offices_and_departments/u2/usunmissionk.html
Wiley, J. (2006). Awakening to World Hunger. Kenya: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
World Food Programme. (2015). What are the current issues in Kenya. Retrieved
from World Food Programme: https://www.wfp.org/countries/kenya