2021
GLOBAL HUNGER INDEX
KENYA POLICY BRIEF June 2022
© Jonas Wresch/Welthungerhilfe
Kenya in the 2021 GHI What explains Kenya’s high GHI score? Each year, Kenya’s GHI score
In the 2021 Global Hunger Index report, Kenya ranks 87 out of th depends on its recent performance in four indicators:
116 countries with sufficient data to calculate GHI scores. With a Æ undernourishment – the share of the population who do not get
score of 23.0, Kenya has a level of hunger that is serious. enough calories
Æ child wasting – the share of children under five who are too thin
KENYA’S GHI SCORES, 2000–2021 for their height
40
Æ child stunting – the share of children under five who are too short
36.7
for their age
31.2 Æ child mortality – the share of children who die before their fifth
30
25.4 birthday
23.0
GHI score
20
These four indicators reflect the overall trend in Kenya’s GHI scores.
Undernourishment, at 24.8%, is considered medium, and this rate has
10 hardly changed since 2012. This means that one-quarter of Kenyans
do not consume enough calories to live a healthy and productive life.
0 Child wasting, an indicator of acute malnutrition, has steadily declined
2000 2006 2012 2021
and reached the low rate of 4.8%.
Alarming Serious At 25.0%, child stunting, which reflects chronic malnutrition, is
Source: 2021 Global Hunger Index authors. Note: Data for the GHI score for 2000 are from considered high. Though it fell sharply between 2000 and 2012, it
1998–2002; for 2006, from 2004–2008; for 2012, from 2010–2014; and for 2021, from
2016–2020.
has stagnated since then. Child mortality is at 4.3%, considered
medium, after a slowing decline.
Kenya has made important progress against hunger in the past two UNDERNOURISHMENT IN KENYA, 2000–2021 (%)
decades. Since 2000, the country’s GHI score has declined by 13.7
40
points – a percentage decrease of 37%, representing a significant
32.2
improvement from alarming to serious. Most of that improvement,
30
however, occurred between 2000 and 2012. Since 2012 Kenya’s 26.1 24.9 24.8
GHI score has fallen by only 2.4 points, showing that its progress in
GHI score
20
the fight against hunger has slowed.
Although Kenya’s GHI score of 23.0 exceeds the world average,
it is lower than average for Africa South of the Sahara and third-low- 10
est in East Africa.
0
2000 2006 2012 2021
Source: 2021 Global Hunger Index authors. Note: Data for the GHI score for 200 are from
2000–2002: for 2006, from 2005–2007; for 2012, from 2011–2013; for 2021,
from 2018–2020.
GHI SCORES FOR EAST AFRICA, 2021
50.8
50
40
36.3
31.3
GHI score
30 27.4 26.4 25.1 24.7 Africa South of the Sahara = 27.1
24.1 23.0 21.3
20
World = 17.9
12.2
10
0
Somalia Madagascar Mozambique Djibouti Rwanda Sudan United Rep. Ethiopia Kenya Malawi Mauritius
of Tanzania
Extremely alarming Serious
Alarming Moderate
Source: 2021 Global Hunger Index authors. Note: Burundi, Comoros, Eritrea, South Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are in the East Africa subregion but are not shown, owing to insuf-
ficient data for the calculation of GHI scores. Existing data and Provisional indicator values for these countries were included in the calculation of regional and global GHI sores. See Box 1.3
regarding provisional designations of hunger severity for countries with incomplete data.
2
CHILD WASTING IN KENYA, 2000–2021 (%) National averages for the relevant indicators point to the scale of
10 the issue, but hunger and undernutrition vary widely by region and
county in Kenya. Much of the rural population living in the arid and
7.4 semi-arid lands (ASAL) of northern Kenya is highly vulnerable to food
6.9
6.3 insecurity. Child stunting, for example, is highest in Kitui and West
GHI score
5 4.8 Pokot, whereas child wasting is highest in Turkana and Marsabit.
Overall, the people who are most vulnerable to hunger are children
and women.
The Challenge: A Toxic Cocktail of Conflict, Climate
0
2000 2006 2012 2021
Change, and COVID-19
Source: 2021 Global Hunger Index authors. Note: Data for the GHI score for 2000 are from As the 2021 GHI shows, globally and in Kenya, progress toward
1998–2002; for 2006, from 2004–2008; for 2012, from 2010–2014; and for 2021, from
Zero Hunger by 2030 is slowing, driven by multiple crises, such as
2016–2020.
climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, and
increasingly severe and protracted violent conflicts.
Kenyans are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Seventy
percent of Kenyans earn all or part of their income from agriculture,
and most farmers rely on rainfed farming. Over the past three years,
CHILD STUNTING IN KENYA, 2000–2021 (%) rains have failed, been delayed, or been below average, leading to
50 massive crop failures. Pastoralists are highly resilient and self-reliant,
40.8 40.3 but climate change and the consequent inconsistent rainfall patterns
40 have also led to huge losses of livestock in their communities. As a
result of the ongoing drought, more than 2.8 million Kenyans in the
30 26.3
GHI score
25.0 country’s 23 counties in arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) go to bed
20 hungry.
At the same time, measures taken to control the spread of
10 COVID-19 in urban areas jeopardize the incomes, and in turn the
food security, of poor urban households. In December 2021, at least
0
2000 2006 2012 2021 one in five urban households was in food crisis.
Source: 2021 Global Hunger Index authors. Note: Data for the GHI score for 2000 are from Conflict is also a factor. Competition over increasingly scarce
1998–2002; for 2006, from 2004–2008; for 2012, from 2010–2014; and for 2021, from
2016–2020.
rangelands and water is leading to civil strife and loss of life – a
situation that overlaps with and exacerbates hunger. Internal and
cross-border displacement is common owing to both drought and
conflict over natural resources, creating additional hardships for
affected populations.
CHILD MORTALITY IN KENYA, 2000–2021 (%) The Way Forward: Getting to Zero Hunger
15 The Kenyan government has recently made several important
commitments to advance food security and nutrition. At the 2021
9.9 United Nations Food Systems Summit, it reinforced its aspiration to
10
achieve Zero Hunger by 2030. Three months later, at the Nutrition for
7.2
GHI score
Growth Summit, it pledged to continue implementing its multisectoral
5.5
country action plan on child wasting, which is aligned with planned
5 4.3
outcomes in health, food, social protection, and water, sanitation,
and hygiene (WASH) systems. But are these efforts enough in the
face of current headwinds?
0
2000 2006 2012 2021 In the short term, it is crucial for government, donors, and
Source: 2021 Global Hunger Index authors. development partners to work collectively to provide coordinated
humanitarian assistance to those at risk of starvation. This assistance
will not only save lives but also ensure that those communities can
build back in a sustainable and resilient way. Increased public invest-
Very high Medium ment in social security and targeted social safety nets would help
High Low vulnerable groups to absorb shocks and avoid falling into crisis.
3
Nutrition-sensitive social protection programs should be directed to The challenges posed by the risk of violent conflict, climate change,
the most vulnerable, such as children, to boost their life chances by extreme weather events, economic shocks, and the lingering conse-
ensuring their food security and nutrition. quences of the COVID-19 pandemic will surely continue. To bolster
In the longer term, national and county governments must community resilience, therefore, we must transform food systems to
prioritize policies and programs that increase productivity, food become sustainable and equitable. Integrating a peace-building lens
security, nutrition, and the resilience of small-scale farmers and into the creation of resilient food systems, as well as a food security
pastoralists. This will include investments in a shift toward
lens into peace building, can help advance both sustainable food and
climate-smart agriculture and water management, a timely flow of nutrition security and durable peace.
funds for basic services to counties, and investment in drought and Fundamentally, all actions must put vulnerable communities,
famine early action mechanisms, as described in the Ending Drought including women and children, at the center of food systems and
Emergencies Framework. Farmers need support to secure access to policies and must be anchored in human rights and meaningful
land, water, seeds, information, agricultural inputs, financing, participation.
extension services, and transport. Government should also introduce
insurance schemes to help protect farmers from catastrophic losses.
Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e. V. Kenya Concern Worldwide Kenya
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