More 800,000 Kenyan children under five years face acute malnutrition, First Lady Rachel Ruto has said.

Speaking in Nairobi during the launch of a campaign dubbed Enough by World Vision, Rachel said although the country has made major strides in reducing stunting from 26 per cent in 2014 to 18 per cent in 2022, a lot needs to be done.

“There’s no greater indignity than children attending school hungry. We’ve made significant strides, reducing stunting from 26 per cent  in 2014 to 18 per cent in 2022. Overall, nutrition has improved. Yet, 847,000 Kenyan children under five face acute malnutrition, down 14.5 per cent from 2023. We must unite to scale interventions in food security, health, nutrition, and finance to reach our goal of less than five percent childhood wasting by 2025,” she said.

Rachel lauded World Vision for the initiative, noting that advocating for enough nutritious food for every child, both at home and in school, through ethical and sustainable sourcing is commendable.

The campaign aims to combat child hunger and malnutrition in the country and address the alarming prevalence of food insecurity, ensuring every child has access to nutritious food for their well-being and development.

 “With this initiative, we aim to improve the nutritional status of vulnerable children in Kenya through targeted interventions, reducing hunger in the most affected communities through the three-year campaign,” said  Dr David Githanga, World Vision Kenya board chairperson.

 Available statistics show that nearly 900,000 Kenyan children aged six to 59 months need assistance from acute malnutrition and food insecurity. Conflict, climate shocks, rising cost of living and declining food production have all contributed to food scarcity and high food prices.

 According to the 2023 Global Hunger Index (GHI), Kenya ranks 90th out of the 125 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2023 GHI scores. With a score of 22.0, Kenya has a level of hunger that is serious.

According to Githanga, this initiative is in line with the organisation’s mission which is to have a world where every child enjoys enough nourishing food.

Last year alone, the organisation  invested more than Sh13 billion with more than half dedicated to projects directly contributing to food and nutrition security, benefiting 1.9 million children and 1.5 million adults.

 World Vision Kenya National Director Gilbert Kamanga noted that more needs to be done to address malnutrition challenge in the country saying that 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. We must prioritise awareness, community resilience and long-term strategies to address the root cause of hunger,” Kamanga said.

This is in line with the Government’s commitment  to enhance the school meals programme initiative by working with multiple stakeholders to find innovative and sustainable funding sources for school meals and expand the coverage from the current 1.9 million children to universal coverage by 2030.

The campaign also calls for improved data collection, climate-smart agriculture, and policy reforms even as the government plans to establish a national policy on school meals by June 2024 as well as strengthen the efficiency and accountability mechanisms of the school meals initiative.

The ENOUGH Campaign is a global initiative connected to Sustainable Development Goal  Zero Hunger. Simultaneously, World Vision International launched the ENOUGH Campaign across Africa, committing US $1.7 billion to address the escalating hunger crisis, targeting to improve the nutritional status of children in 27 vulnerable countries.