Poor policies on production and distribution have seen middlemen take advantage of the inefficient food systems to fleece townspeople.
In a bid to lower costs, most households are exposing themselves to contaminated and toxic-laden food sold in unhygienic conditions.
Nairobians are spending nearly a third of their incomes on foodstuff, making it difficult for them to pay for other essential family needs.
A report commissioned by Aga Khan University’s East Africa Institute and presented at a one-day stakeholder symposium in Nairobi said poor policies on production and distribution had seen middlemen take advantage of the inefficient food systems to fleece townspeople.
The institute’s director Alex Awiti said most families had compromised provision of other family needs such as housing to meet the food demand. Subsequently most households are exposed to contaminated and toxic-laden food sold in unhygienic conditions.
Dr Awiti said policy makers, agricultural economic experts, farmers and market traders must find a unified position on the food problem, adding that Nairobians need safe and affordable foodstuff sold at clean markets.
“Forty-six per cent of families spend about Sh300 on food daily, totalling Sh9,000 where most of them earn below Sh20,000. This has forced many to ignore nutritional value and focus on available foodstuff. Their living conditions are poor, children attend ill-equipped schools and at times must spend their hard-earned, yet scarce income on treating food-related ailments,” he said.
The symposium called on Nairobi County to further refine the Agriculture Bill passed in 2015 to promote cultivation and livestock-keeping on idle land through leasehold to enhance food production.
Prof Nancy Karanja urged the government to integrate the food value chain to reduce contamination that mainly occurred during transportation.
This would see modern markets constructed as well as the introduction of food packaging and processing industries, thereby helping reduce the rising threat of food-borne diseases.
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