Kenya's hunger ranking has improved to stand at 90 in the 2023 Global Hunger Index (GHI), dropping from 94 in the prior year.
However, the report still describes the country’s hunger situation as serious. Researchers define hunger as not just a lack of food, but also unbalanced food.
"In the 2023 Global Hunger Index, Kenya ranks 90th out of the 125 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2023 GHI scores. With a score of 22, Kenya has a level of hunger that is serious," the report read in part.
The prevalence of severe food insecurity highlights the challenges Kenyans face to put food on the table. About 27.8 percent of the population suffers from inadequate access to food.
The increase in hunger also resulted from food inflation, partly driven by the high cost of imports, as well as extreme climate events.
Kenya witnessed a locust invasion before and during the pandemic that was compounded by a prolonged drought last year that went down as the worst in 40 years.
The resultant effect of the two factors and geopolitical tensions was a spike in the cost of food by 15.78 per cent in October 2023 compared to the same month of the previous year.
This ultimately pushed the cost of living to the highest in over five years.
"There are many aspects to be worried about climate change, the droughts, floods that are in the region; it seems the hunger levels are stalling and the malnutrition rates are rising," said Mr Christian Schnieeper, Kenya county director Welthungerhilfe (WHH), an organisation aimed at eradicating hunger and malnutrition in line with UN's development goals.
"Nevertheless I would say in the last couple of decades the world has recognized that we are living on this planet together and we need to have a joint effort to overcome the challenges that we have in Kenya, in Uganda, in East Africa and also in the remaining rest of the world."
Mr Schnieeper said that GHI scores arise from a combination of several indicators, including undernourishment which is the percentage of the population without sufficient calorie intake.
Another is child stunting measuring the population that doesn't have enough height for their age, weight and child mortality.
The hunger situation has improved since 2000 when it was alarming to serious in 2023. Half of the country (mostly in the North Eastern parts of Kenya) reported worrying states of malnutrition.
