Author:Leonida Odongo

What is ailing our community is often a question asked anytime we gather in communities for a dialogue. This statement is an ice breaker and also allows people to open up without feeling judged. Sometimes people share examples of what is happening to them concealed as “my neighbour experiences this and that”.

Women go through a lot of psychosocial issues. Some are strong enough to speak out while others feel embarrassed to share what they are going through. As Beth Mukami of Women in Leadership and Development (WILD) recently put it in a community dialogue in Muvuti -Machakos County, as a mother, wife, aunt, daughter what do you see when you look at yourself in the mirror. The responses were appalling and included:

• A woman growing old
• A woman who is living a life not like the one aspired at marriage
• A woman who is overworked
• A woman who is disrespected
• A woman often blamed by the in-laws
• A woman who is never listened to

Of the 36 participants, only one respondent said “I see a woman who is a conqueror”

Asked the burdens they have, in their community, the responses got were:

Defilement, rape, land disputes, disrespect from in-laws, homelessness, burden of school fees, orphaned children discriminated, being beaten up especially when husbands get drunk.

Against this backdrop, Haki Nawiri Afrika in collaboration with Innovation for Change-Africa is providing spaces where women can come together, talk to each other and collectively explore solutions. We need not wait for a person to commit suicide for use to say Rest in Peace and Rest in Power, we can all do our part in bringing back the sunshine in our lives and other people’s lives. Providing a shoulder to lean on, providing an ear to listen can help deter a person from jumping into a river to end their lives, it can help a mother who being abused vents her frustration on her children through beating, it can help a young child being to speak out about the vice.

More forums are needed in rural communities on mental health, because this is where the bulk of the population across Africa lives and this is where most marginalisation is taking place. This is also where rights abuse has been normalised and people do not report cases of abuse either for fear or to protect themselves from victimisation by the community. It is also important to bring perpetrators of psychosocial abuse to the table, to allow them reflections on what they are doing and how it negatively impacts the health of others.

The objective of psychosocial support and resilience building is to create safe spaces for women and youth to share what they are going through and collectively explore solutions. We recognise that the beginning of healing is acknowledging that one has a problem.

This is our story, What’s yours?

Author: Leonida Odongo

In African context, food plays a key role. Different communities relate to food differently, but the bottom line is that within the continent, food is a cultural expression. There is an onslaught of attacks on African food systems. This has taken various forms from training of African scientists on conventional food production, with emphasis of course on chemical intensified methods to increase food production at the expense of people’s health. Other predatory influence on African food has been through research which is geared towards endorsing industrial agriculture under the guise of tackling global food insecurity. From the colonial period, African food has been demeaned, with smallholder farmers forced into labour and plantations, to date the recolonisation of African food systems is by making Africa a source of raw materials for agricultural products. Take an example of Ghana, a main producer of cocoa, but where does the best chocolate come from? –Switzerland, how many coffee bushes are found in Switzerland? your guess is as good as mine.

Preparation of Mukimo from Kenya 

African indigenous seeds, passed on from generation to generation is demonised. Farmers are told that indigenous seeds and traditional farming methods are archaic and have no place in the modern world. Seeds that used to feed our forefathers and enabled them live healthy for years, is being treated as diseased. Farmers are often told to pump more fertilisers in their farms, in some cases countries have put in place subsidised programs where farmers are given seeds and chemicals, and this is happening in countries such as Malawi and Zambia through the Farmer Input Support Programme(FISP). In Zambia, FISP was first introduced as Fertiliser Input Support Programme, obviously with the major aim of increasing fertiliser use. The objectives of FISP are said to improve food security and income of smallholder farmers by facilitating their access to improved agricultural inputs. However, the realities are that farmers fin these programmes problematic[1] and not meeting their needs and this is also a way of promoting monoculture and input dependency. At the onset, fertilisers are often made to appear to be cheap while in reality when the farmer calculates the cost of production and the inputs, it tends to be expensive.

Through agro-dealer programmes, farmers are chained to agrovets for as long as they produce food. Taking advantage of the lack of non-functional agricultural extension service across Africa, agrovets become the go to place when farmers want information on production .Agrovets on the other hand are business enterprises , their goal is to make profits , whether the seeds and the chemicals they sell to farmers work or not .An agrovets sales person will never tell a farmer that the more chemicals you pump into your soil the more your soil becomes toxic , this is very deliberate because for agrovets it is profits before people.

African Seed and Biotechnology Programme is a continental programme for the development of the seed sector in Africa [2], this targets smallholder farmers. Many African countries have punitive clauses within their seeds and crops legislations and this is criminalising sharing of indigenous seeds[3] .These legislations have heavy fines which to many farmers who hardly own the land in the first place can hardly afford. These legislations in essence are structures put in place to create a conductive environment for Transnational Corporations dealing in seeds and agrochemicals to have a ready market backed by laws. When exchange and selling of indigenous seeds is criminalised, the remaining source of seeds, which is legitimised becomes agrovets and who owns the agrovets or in whose interests do the agrovets operate? It is often said that African seeds are not nutritious, how then did our forefathers live for so long if the African food was not healthy and nutritious. Veronica Kalondu a 90-year-old grandmother from Kaani in Machakos County-Kenya says during an interview, I owe my long life to the indigenous seeds that I grow and indigenous food that I eat. Kalondu says that when you eat indigenous food, the hunger pangs are kept at bay and it is possible to only have one meal because indigenous food have the requisite nutrients.

Preparation of Jollof rice -from Ghana

A  look at supermarkets shelves  today you find every meal has a label of bio fortified. Does it mean our food does not have the necessary minerals and other nutrients? And where have these minerals gone to?.Bio fortification goal is said to be reduction of mortality and morbidity rates related to micronutrient malnutrition and to increase food security, productivity, and the quality of life for poor populations in developing countries. The problem of food production in Africa is not because our soil becomes unhealthy every day because of overuse of fertilisers. Africa has the most arable land in the world and a conducive weather for food production, why then does Africa top the list of the most hungry and malnourished people in the world? This is because of systemic problems and the various inequalities that exist in the food production value chain. Africa is conditioned to be a primary producer continent, producing for markets abroad, it also has to do with policies that benefit corporations at the expense of food producers and a fragile food systems heavily dependent on imports.

Senegalese Thieboudienne

Prior to colonisation and the current re-colonisation, Africans had thriving food systems, indigenous varieties of seeds were well developed, they had names and were biodiverse. A maize cob had different colours, some purple, maroon, yellow, red all mixed as a tapestry of a beautiful rainbow. Today maize is either white or yellow. The multi- coloured varieties have disappeared. Today you will find just a few farmers with these indigenous varieties. This calls for reviving of our seed systems before it is too late to do so. Many seeds have become extinct, never to be seen again. In African culture, food is not just to fill the stomach, food preparation is an art. Families come together when food is being prepared. This is a platform for exchanging updates of what is happening in the village. The process of chasing chicken in the African compound for it to be slaughtered is therapeutic. In Africa chicken are not caged. As Dr. Melania Chiponda of African Women’s Development Communication Network (FEMNET) aptly put it, “our chicken are free rangers, they exercise, they run and are not overfed on chemicals then caged as is the case in Europe”. There is division of labour on who cooks which food. Men are responsible for slaughtering of livestock; women are responsible for keeping the fire going.

                               Food preparation

Philanthro-capitalism is taking over the continent, under the guise of helping solving Africa’s food and nutritional problems. Contractual farming where farmers sign contracts producing food they don’t consume. Farmers, the main source of food end up becoming hungry. Corporate capture of food system is seen in seen in situations where corporations influence legislations and push for industrial agriculture. This production is anchored on intensified chemical use and Africa is the newest frontier for agrochemicals banned in other countries. Technology is being used in food production, drones taking over spraying of pesticides as land becomes more consolidated. The use of technology has had negative impaction food production for example depleting soil nutrients, interfering with biodiversity, especially with the push for monoculture production.

Adverts have implications on what we eat and what we grow, they tend to entice the brain and influence consumer choices. Media programmed are often used to lure farmers to buy agrochemicals. A look at seeds and agrochemicals advertisements are often in luminous colours, very healthy looking promising farmers of bumper harvests into eh shortest time possible. Processed food in the form of chickens and fizzy drinks often bring about a hook to would be consumers to entice them to buy. At the household level, whenever mothers cook indigenous vegetables locally known as mitoo (slender leave), nderema (vine spinach), mrenda (jute mallow), osuga (black nightshade). Young people complain that these vegetables are bitter and will often leave them on the table untouched, with derogatorily referring to the vegetables as herbs. Discussions with young people across Africa reveal that what they eat is affected by their purchasing power. When there is more money in the pocket , they tend to eat chicken, burgers , chips and sodas whereas when they get broke they go back to cooking healthy food .This in essence should not be the case .Healthy food should be eaten at all times .To value the wafting scent of jollof  coming from Ghana , to the  Senegalese thieboudienne, to appreciate the mukimo[4] and wimbi( millet) , the  stomach filling sensation of fufu eaten in the west Africa and not to mention the intricate process of preparing pilau and biriani eaten among the coastal region dwelling communities of Kenya.

                            Preparing  Matooke from Uganda 

It is important to create platforms for intergenerational knowledge transfer on culinary skills , on how to use indigenous ingredients – such as msherekha or munyu which is a special food seasoning found among the Luhya community in Kenya .There is need to relevant the benefits of using cow ghee in our food , the nutritional benefits of vegetables such as managu[5] include fibre which helps in improving digestion , preventing the consumer form constipation , helps decrease risks of heart diseases such as strokes and heart attacks as well as obesity and type 2 diabetes. The richness of manage in potassium helps in regulating the body, improving blood circulation and red blood cells formation. The health benefits of eating fufu (yams) include rich in vitamins, minerals and fibre, enhance brain functions, ease symptoms of menopause, reduce inflammation and improve blood sugar control.[6] Njama njama (huckleberry leaves) consumed by  people from Cameroon ,has tremendous health benefits which include; being a rich source of antioxidants, high in iron, and a good source of vitamin C and potassium.

With all these health benefits found in indigenous vegetables, why the push for ultra-processed food? why the demonisation of African food? By demonising African indigenous food, a dominant narrative is created leading to African food being made inferior. This helps create in the minds of consumers a perception that to eat African food is to be rural or less modernised. It helps reinforce that processed food is the best food and cooks quicker. It is time to decolonize our mind on what we eat, it is time to reignite our pride as Africans in the food that we EAT. It is time to make the world know that Our Food is African.

                                    My Food is African Biennial Conference -Yaounde

References

[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEOQre_SIak&list=UUo5OiZnNBz806VHXcZeSiHQ&index=10

[2] https://www.aecfafrica.org/approach/our-programmes/agribusiness/seeds-for-impact-2/

[3] https://www.theelephant.info/data-stories/2021/06/21/punitive-government-policies-jeopardise-kenyas-food-security/

[4] Mukimo is mashed potatoes mixed with vegetables found among the Agikuyu in Kenya

[5] https://ke.opera.news/ke/en/health/71f398dd99bf61303689fe996a8b69de

[6] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/yam-benefits

Author: Leonida Odongo

Today is International Rural Women’s Day, it is a day celebrated every on 15^th of October. The theme for 2022 is “Rural Women, key for a world free from hunger and poverty”. Rural women are the cog when it comes to food production. The bulk of the food eaten in Africa is produced in the rural areas. Agriculture is considered the backbone of most African countries. In the entire food production chain, you will often find women, from tilling the land, seed saving, processing but sadly when it comes to final products they are often excluded from decision making.

Rural women suffer from various forms of violence; this contributes to interfering with food production. Economic violence makes women to be denied access to land and in some communities’ women till the land, but the sale of farm produce is controlled by men.The skyrocketing prices of food, climate crisis, negative of COVID-19 continue to impact on women, more so rural women. According to Oxfam, since 2021, due to climate change, the rains have become more erratic, and this is in a midst of conflicts, COVID-19 and locust plague.[1]With the climate crisis, harvests have failed, livestock are also losing their lives, camels which are among the hardiest animals are dying of hunger. To make the situation dire, conflicts are happening in various communities across the continent. For communities affected by flooding, families are yet to recover from the damaging impacts of flooding.

Extreme weather events are compounding a dire situation. For example, women are the majority of food producers. With the biting drought, they can no longer be productively engaged in agriculture because of dependence on rainfall agriculture. Climate induced extreme wither events is also resulting into pests, for example desert locust which resulted in farmers counting them loses in millions. Oxfam further notes that over 44 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and South Sudan and over 30 million people are facing severe levels of hunger. If you interrogate further, you will find that of the persons facing hunger, most are women and children. The prices of food have skyrocketed. The war in Ukraine has negatively impacted on global food systems and energy prices. As noted by Relief web, the reduced agricultural production as well as blockades in the Black Sea Region and trade restrictions affected the flow of essential grains, reduced availability of staple food leading to rising costs. For example as of May 2022, the price of wheat rose by 48.6 percent , whereas wheat rose maize rose by 9.3 % Reduced agricultural production and blockades in the Black Sea Region coupled with trade restriction policies affecting flows of essential goods such as grains and sunflower-seed oil, led to a reduced availability of staples and a sharp increase in global grain prices in May 2022 of 48.6 percent for wheat, 28.7 percent for maize and 9.3 percent for rice in 2022 , compared to before the war broke out in Ukraine. Furthermore, the prices of vegetable oil tripled. Many African countries depend on imports for their food.

As of October 2022, which is coincidentally when the International Rural Women’s Day and the World Food Day are celebrated, there is no cause for celebration in Africa at large and in East Africa is particular where 82 million people are acutely food insecure.[2]Rural based women across Africa continue to suffer from various constraints that inhibit rural from producing food include lack of credit, lack of training, lack of updated information as well as lack overwork. Rural women also get exposed to agrochemicals, most of which they apply without protective gear. For agriculture to thrive it needs money. Many women cannot effectively produce food because of lack of finances, they can hardly develop their land. Many women also lack collateral and hence cannot take loans for farming. Being a farmer and depending on rain-fed agriculture is also an everyday risk faced by women. When crops die because of prolonged drought as is the current situation in countries such as Kenya and the Horn of Africa region, women are the ones expected to avail food in the household.

Women overwork, they undertaken both productive and reproductive roils within the household. A conversation with community members on how much work is done among men and women in a 24-hour clock, more often you find that women’s work tends to be more but is hardly recognised nor economically quantified. In a rural household, it is women who cook, prepare the land, take children to school and still come and do milking and prepare food. Rural women often sleep last and are always the ones to wake up the earliest. Rural women also lack agricultural extension service, as such this makes them vulnerable to wrong narratives. For example, agro-chemical companies easily dupe women to continue using synthetic chemicals on their farms without telling them the likely negative impacts of these additives on soil health, water and food.

When it comes to decision making, be it at the household, at the local community or in budgetary allocation processes   on agriculture within a devolved system of government such as the case of Kenya, women’s voices are muted. Public meetings locally known as baraza never favour women, whenever these meetings are held, women are always busy at home and hence unable to attend, within the household, rural women and by extension urban based women are often relegated to the kitchen. On land rights, the main factor of production, women’s presence if deliberately excluded. Land is often in the name of male relatives, women have to seek permission to use land and plant food. Upon widowhood, rural women get evicted from their land, losing the ability to produce food, their next option becomes informal settlements in the city. And sometimes the land they are deprived off is sold to the next willing buyer.

Rural based women in Africa today are facing the twin challenges of climate and food crises. As providers of food , women have to travel longer distances in search of water. With climate change , rural women are subjected to more labour as they spend more time looking for scarce resources .Climate  change also exacerbates household gender based violence for women. When women take long to the river or have to queue  for long because there is less water, when they come home they have to explain why they are late , and this brings about beatings and other forms of violence. Conversations with women from the Maasai community in the Mara shared that when a woman comes home after 6pm, she gets beaten whereas when a man comes back home late, no questions are asked. When queried whether they find this as wrong, the response this is part of our culture and we have accepted it.

The recent increase of climate shocks, extreme weather events and climate‐related disasters further worsen the status of women. Further still, as the main caregivers and providers of food, water and fuel,Women’s restricted access to and control over key natural and productive resources undermine their rights and economic capacity, affecting the efficiency of the agricultural sector and limiting economic growth overall, failing to tap into women’s enormous productive potential.

There is intersectionality between food and other injustices not only in Africa but across the world. Lack of food pushes parents to marrying off their children in the hope that they will get a better life. UNICEF notes that in regions such as Ethiopia, child marriage is on the rise due to drought. No mother wants to see her child hungry, however, this is the reality across the Horn of Africa where families don’t have any remaining options as they battle to survive drought, water scarcity and skyrocketing food prices. Famine Early Warning Network goes to further note that 1.8 million children are in need of treatment due to life threatening severe cases of acute malnutrition.[3]

Rural women will continue to suffer so long as they are excluded from controlling land. The main belief is that women cannot be trusted to handle property, furthermore, conversations with men during communal land dialogues organised by Kenyan Peasant League confirms that eviction from matrimonial homes and the inherent denial of property rights continues to impoverish women not only in rural areas but also in urban areas where they seek refuge in informal settlements after losing their land to relatives in the villages. Many constitutions all over Africa speak of equality, but when it comes to matters property, this equality is never realised. Cultural practices give more power to males, forcing women to accept to live in poverty. There is also the assumption that women will get married and get land in the husband’s family. But this is not always the case as women are often treated as foreigner in both their father’s homes and their matrimonial homes. During land related community dialogues, women also reveal that although married for many years and even having grown up children, majority have never seen the title deed to the land on which they farm. This puts women and their children at a very precarious position in terms of potential disinheritance especially in cases where women are not empowered on their rights or where husbands die intestate.

The lack of farm inputs essential in food production such as seeds is also a problem, the dominant narrative that indigenous seeds are ‘archaic, non-productive ‘has greatly contributed to this. In Africa, women are the nurturers of seeds, they ensure continuity of life. This age old activity undertaken by African women is being threatened by disappearing seed varieties. It is impossible to produce food when you don’t have seeds. To continue   the cultural relevance of food in Africa, to ensure loyalty to the taste of food as we know it in Africa, indigenous seeds need to be available in every rural household. This ensures biodiversity and nutritional sufficiency. Another reality which in rural areas which has direct impact on household food insecurity is he disappearing of granaries. With the so called shift to modernity, granaries are becoming a thing of the past. However, there is a direct relationship between the existence of a granary and the availability of food in a household. With the erosion and disappearance of granaries, agrovets are becoming seeds stores for farmers. There is need for campaigns in villages far and wide in the African continent to bring back granaries and indigenous seeds. This ways families will be assured of nutritional value and diversity in what they eat.

Access to credit should be availed to rural women to enable them produce food undisrupted. This calls for solidarity funding and solidarity marketing where consumers and producers are more connected, producers are assured of markets for their products and consumers know where their food comes from. The onset of COVID-19 confirmed to us that the best markets are those found within your borders, the hard questions on the International Rural Women Day and by extension World Food Day is what have African governments learnt  with regards to food production from COVID-19 , what lessons are they taking forward or will it be business as usual ?.It is quite sad to imagine that many years ago, most African countries  could produce their own food but have now become net importers of food, with the 1980s being the turning point.[4]

 To address the multiple forms of oppression that rural women encounter on daily basis, it is important to create platforms for rural women to make decisions, be able to question existing food chains and to have meaningful participation in budgetary processes specifically on food and related expenditures. Food is political because it involves decision making about who gets what and when, it involves people’s lives and livelihoods, for the current and future generations. The absence of women in policy spaces relating to food is an apparent contradiction because women are the majority of food producers and agricultural workers as well as household nutritionists, they have the responsibility of ensuring balanced diets and at the same time availability of sustainable sources of food.

It is also important to deliberately create consciousness among women to challenge patriarchal norms that inhibit control of land and other factors of production. In Africa, rural areas are the reservoirs of food, close off any African rural community and cities will die of hunger. In order to address rural women’s poverty and stay true to the 2022 theme of International Rural Women Day, it is important to ensure rural women have the requisite support in terms of skills, knowledge, access to credit as well as storage facilities. Rural women also need skills in marketing, storage equipment and skills in increasing the shelf life of farm produce. There also need to harness efforts towards addressing the care work imbalance in households, which leaves women with the double burden of care roles and productive work on the farm. Unpaid care work should be an everyday conversation, there is need for valuation of women’s contribution in the household and redistribution of household chores and incomes. This can only be realised by organising conscious raising sessions that bring both men and women together for reflections and continuous advocacy targeting men. Spaces need to be created for community dialogues on women rights, community leaders need to be made aware of how women suffer because of discrimination, to bring up a more equal society, young people need to be made aware that patriarchy hurts both men and women. Transforming discrimination meted on women needs to start at household level, with schooling that no gender is more superior.

For 2022, however, we cannot say we are celebrating the International Rural Women’s Day when these same women continue to suffer from hunger and the adverse effects of climate crisis, hopefully we learn from these crises and emerge stronger, years to come.

[1] https://www.oxfam.org/en/what-we-do/emergencies/climate-and-food-crisis-east-and-central-africa

[2] https://www.sipri.org/events/2022/global-food-crisis-ripple-effects-war-ukraine-horn-africa#:~:text=The%20combined%20impacts%20of%20climate,people%20are%20acutely%20food%20insecure.

[3] https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/child-marriage-rise-horn-africa-drought-crisis-intensifies

[4] https://www.explodingafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Why-Has-Africa-Become-a-Net-Food-Importer_FAO.pdf

Right to Food Workshop-Deliberations on a vision for Realisation of the Right to Food in Kenya

In Kenya, 68.5% of the population is moderately or severely food insecure, and about 25% of the population is undernourished. In September 2021, some 2 million Kenyans are facing certain hunger, an increase from 1.4 million in March 2021. Drought is affecting half the counties in the country and the number of hungry persons is projected to reach 3 million by December 2021¹.2.1 million people in Kenya are malnourished.²The problem of food insecurity in Kenya is linked to economic inequalities, social exclusion, corruption, high poverty in rural areas, decreased agricultural productivity, high food prices, drought, floods, conflict, and climate change.

Experience sharing on Culture and Food in the Kenyan Context 

The high burden of malnutrition and routine hunger in Kenya is not only a threat to the achievement of the goal of Kenya Vision 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but also a clear indication of inadequate realization of human rights. In the Constitution of Kenya 2010, two articles are explicit on the right to food. Article 43 (1)(C) states “Every person has the right to be free from hunger, and to have adequate food of acceptable quality”; and Article 53 (1)(C) “Every child has the right to basic nutrition, shelter and health care”. There are several laws (Acts) that talk about food, but we do not have a specific right to food Act – a framework law to support legally binding obligations to realiSe the right to food. Agriculture and food and nutrition policies, cognisant of the right to food, try to address the country’s food and nutrition challenges with limited success; mostly from a needs-based perspective rather than from a rights approach.

Consultations with and research done by stakeholders revealed that there is a need to develop a robust legal framework for the Right to Food to give life to the constitutional provision in Article 43 (1) (c). The Article is an important milestone towards the realisation of the right to food, but not sufficient as it does not provide an elaborate framework to actualise the right. Hence the goal is to have a comprehensive legal framework that sufficiently translates the constitutional entitlement on the right to adequate food enacted and rolled out with requisite policies, accountability and redressal mechanisms, institutional arrangements, and resources by 2030.

To enable effective advocacy for the right to food, stakeholders recognize that alliance-building at the national and county level among CSOs is critical in the promotion of the right to adequate food. Thus, the Right to Adequate Food (RtAF) Coalition. A rights-based approach empowers rights holders to know and claim their rights, and equally important is the development of capacities of duty bearers, to ensure that they are familiar with their respective obligations – to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. The RtAF Coalition is forging a partnership between government and the civil society for a rights-based, participatory process.

The Route to Food Coalition organised a workshop on 6^th June 2022 at Golden Tulip Hotel in Westlands-Nairobi. The objective of the meeting was to brainstorm on developing of a Right to Food Bill and envision among a group of diverse stakeholders what a Right to Food means in the Kenyan context. Represented organisations were Haki Nawiri Afrika https://hakinawiriafrika.org/ ,Biosafety and Biodiversity and Biosafety Association of Kenya (BIBA), Rural Outreach Africa, Welthungerhilfe, Regional Schools and Colleges Permaculture Programme (ReSCOPE), Concern Worldwide , Consumer Advocacy Korogocho Social Justice Centre/Njaa (hunger)Revolution, Rural Outreach Africa, Heinrich Boll Stiftung (HBS), Concern Worldwide, University of Nairobi and lawyers representing various legal organisations.

The participants were divided into 4 groups focusing on  food supply chains, food environments , consumer behaviour , nutrition and health outcomes and asked to discuss draw on a piece of paper an envisioned representation of Right to Food in the Kenyan context. After the drawings, each group was asked to present in plenary.

The Envisioned future of Food in Kenya 

The presentations showed:

• Recognition of indigenous knowledge when it comes to food
• The importance of functional systems for example transport
• The relevance of policies and decision making when it comes to food
• The interconnectedness of food and other rights for example right to education and right to health
• The concerns over safety of food
• The role played by markets in the food chain
• The different roles played in the food system

The participants further shared the rationale for their drawings, which included:

• Negative impacts of climate change on citizens
• Rising cost of living and influence on food production and household food insecurity
• The fact that Kenya is an agricultural county therefore food is key
• The losses that food producers go through because of lack of infrastructure such as roads and storage facilities
• The legislations currently being pushed and /enacted that criminalise activities undertaken by smallholder farmers such as seed saving and exchange

The participants were divided into groups and assigned to discuss questions focusing on an element of food. The groups were: Food supply chains, ii) Food Environment and consumer behaviour iii) Diets, nutrition and health outcomes  iv) Food governance and impacts of food systems. In each assigned group, the participants were to discuss the following:

• Discuss the context of own topic
• Document key issues/concerns/observations. Also, note some of the key positive developments/events
• Discuss and document only key, precise proposed interventions for the concerns identified
• What are the existing policies and legal frameworks guiding the various aspects of your topic of discussion? How do they align with the Right to Adequate Food principles/aspirations?
• Are they sustainable, why?

In the context of health, diets and nutrition outcomes , it was stated that :

• Nutrition situation has deteriorated compared to last year 2021,
• Number of children requiring treatment for  Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) has risen by 15.6% (652,960 last year to 754,906),
• The situation is expected to further worsen because of poor rains,
• COVID-19 pandemic  has further worsened the food security situation at the household level,
• Climate change decreased the produce, decreased the quality, micro-nutrient level decreased
• Transition of disease burden (Non-Communicable Diseases) from 27% to 39%
• Poor Nutrition knowledge
• Physical inactivity
• Rapid urbanisation

Group work on legal frameworks and how they align with the realisation of the Right to Food

The legal frameworks guiding  healthy diets and nutrition outcomes were stated as:

• The Constitution of Kenya
• Notice No 157 of Government of Kenya(GOK) 2015
• Food Drug and Chemical Act
• CAP 254 – Food safety
• Agricultural Finance
• Food and Crops Act
• Breast milk Substitute Act
• Pest Control Product act
• Kenya Climate smart Agriculture Strategy(2017-2026)
• National Change Action Plan 2018-2022
• Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDS)
• National Agriculture Policy
• Food and Nutrition Security Policy and Implementation framework
• National Food Certification Strategy
• Kenyan National Action Plan(KNAP)
• County Nutrition Action Plan
• Flour Blending Regulation
• Blended Flour Standard
• National Food System Strategy
• Draft Urban Agriculture Strategy
• National Guidelines on Healthy Diets and Physical Activity

The alignments between the legal frameworks  with Right to Food and sustainable food systems were described as:

• • The strategy provide a road-map and interventions required to realise the right to food
  • They contain inbuilt monitoring and evaluation plans
  • Provide for changes and improvements (guideline)

The alignment legal frameworks relating to diets, nutrition and health outcomes were stated as:

• Article 43, 1(a, c), of the Constitution of Kenya, guarantees the ‘Right to highest attainable standard of health’, ‘Right to basic nutrition’, ‘Freedom from hunger and and to have adequate food of acceptable quality’
• Breast Milk Substitutes Regulations Act (BMS)  Act – ensures young ones have access to safe, nourishment to who may be exposed to malnutrition
• Food Drugs and Chemical Substances Act  – ensures consumers are protected from malpractice against sale of unwholesome, poisonous or adulterated food that may result to poor health and nutrition outcomes
• Food and Fortification Standard – provides/ensures right protection of the micro-nutrient and it availability upon ingestion
• Agriculture Finance Act – enable farmers have access to finance resources to enable production of food
• Food and Crops Act – provide sustainable affordable credit and advances to farmers for All farm improvement, inputs, operations price stabilisation; Creates provision of subsidiary bodies to discharge specific aspects in food security, value addition, extension for irrigation farming, pest and disease control

The current context of food governance  and supply chains in Kenya was said to be characterised by :

• Devolved system of governance with both national and county governments. Agriculture function devolved to counties
• Ongoing development of right to food policies in 17 counties by Kenya Parliamentary Human Rights Association(KEPHRA)
• Disconnect between citizen’s responsibilities and ongoing political discourse ; missing link between the power of the vote and the right to food , its impact of political choices on food systems ; citizens are unaware of their rights and responsibilities especially the right to food; limited knowledge of the right to food and most get surprised when they are informed about it
• In the past there has been weak linkages between Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and Ministry of Health(MoH): management of issues of food by the Ministry of Agriculture  ; there is positive development towards thinking about from a systems perspective by linking agriculture, health and nutrition and social safety nets
• Lack of participation by citizens( especially the youth) in county governance processes especially on the right to food and agriculture sector budget allocations
• Several reforms in agriculture sector around tea and coffee , what is their impact on food systems
• A lot of agriculture production is viewed from perspective of agriculture sector contribution to the GDP rather than feeding out population (food commodification). All governments have unspoken motivation in every reform initiative , they are mainly thinking about increasing the tax net then the rest(health, incomes etc. come later)
• Resource gaps at county government level as result of delays in disbursements from national to county governments
• Farmers are producing food but subjected to high taxes (cess, market fees) and other costs (e.g. transport costs)hence escalating food prices
• Counties being pushed to pay more taxes to national government
• Weak food distribution systems to ensure surplus from one region is taken to areas where there is scarcity: urban areas depend on food from rural areas
• Poor water and soil governance which are critical to food production and safety; impacts of climate change need to be considered
• Conflict over resource management ; farmer –herder conflicts in areas such as Tana River,  Laikipia , Samburu
• Drought crisis : government role and responsibility to protect its population from hunger through social safety nets
• Food is very expensive-both farmers and consumers are struggling: inputs are very expensive due to lack of subsidised inputs; corruption has limited availability of affordable farm inputs for farmers to profitably produce food –at national level fertiliser is subsidised but at farmer level it is not; importation of maize; cost of producing maize outweighs the output Kshs. 20,000 vis a vis Kshs. 24,000.  High cost of production is pushed to consumers
• The group members reflected on what crops can be grown by Kenyan farmers apart from maize
• Politicians giving handouts( fertilisers, relief food, seeds ) to citizens; seeds being distributed in the middle of the rain season due to delayed seed distribution which leads to massive crop losses while the government  has weather and drought early warning systems
• Implementation of existing laws and policies is weak

The Legal frameworks relating to food supply chains were stated as

• Constitution of Kenya 2010
• Article 43 of Constitution – Right to Food, Right to Health, Right to Social Security
• Article 53 (1) (c) of Constitution –
• Article 20, 21, 22, 23 of Constitution – Enforcement articles- Duty of State to protect, promote and fulfil; progressive realisation of rights and role of judiciary
• Children’s Act
• Health Act 2017
• Public Health Act
• Bill on Pesticides
• Bill on Seeds
• Bill on Biosafety
• Agriculture Act
• Fertilisers and Animal Food Stuff Amendment Act 2015 Bill penalising the use of farm manure by small scale farmers
• Public Health Bill penalising the sale of non-pasteurised milk directly to consumers

County Level Laws

-Nairobi Urban Farming Promotion and Regulation Act 201

The context of food environment and consumer behaviour in Kenya was said to be characterised by :

Food availability and Physical access (proximity)

• Climate change has impacted the availability of food. Extreme weather events have resulted in the loss of food in cases of prolonged droughts and floods.
• The rising cost of living has impacted the purchasing power of consumers
• Soil degradation on soil health resulting to low yields
• Food wastes as a result of overproduction
• Post-harvest losses due to lack of adequate storage facilities
• Legislations that restrict the sharing and exchange of seeds

Leonida Odongo-from Haki Nawiri Afrika Making a presentation on envisioned future of Food in the Kenyan Context 

Economic Access of food was said to be hampered by:

• Transport –poor roads, distribution inequality (some parts of the country may have food while others are going hungry because of agroecological zones)
• Infrastructure (poor road networks inhibiting distribution)
• Middlemen resulting to the exploitation of producers and final consumers
• Rising costs of living (abnormal prices of food)
• Inflation leading to high prices of food
• Seed certification – what of farmers who cannot afford or who prefer to use Farmer Managed Seed Systems
• Markets (flooded markets because of producing the same crop eg maize)
• Roads become impassable because of extreme weather events e.g roads washed away during flooding
• Transport –poor roads, distribution inequality (some parts of the country may have food while others are going hungry because of agroecological zones)
• Infrastructure (poor road networks inhibiting distribution)
• Middlemen resulting to the exploitation of producers and final consumers
• Rising costs of living (abnormal prices of food)
• Inflation leading to high prices of food
• Seed certification – what of farmers who cannot afford or who prefer to use Farmer Managed Seed Systems
• Markets (flooded markets because of producing the same crop e.g maize)
• Roads become impassable because of extreme weather events e.g roads washed away during flooding

Food quality and safety

• Contradictory views on safety of food by different actors e.g media and the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) example whether consumption of Indomie (https://allafrica.com/stories/202205050063.html#:~:text=Nairobi%20%E2%80%94%20The%20Consumers%20Federation%20of,high%20aflatoxins%20and%20pesticide%20residues) has health implications
• Lack of labelling of foods  that consumers have a choice

Promotion, advertising, and information

• Public participation
• Information- Some important information is concealed from the public i.e confidential business information. There is no full disclosure on the health impacts on the agro-chemicals in the market.
• How do we address the various grievances?

How legal frameworks align with right to food and sustainable food systems in relation to  food environments and consumer behaviour  were stated as:

• Constitution of Kenya (Art.43(1(c)-Access, adequacy and safety i.e right to food in totality
•  Community Land Act- access , sustainability
•  Food and Drugs and Chemical Substances Act-safety
•  Consumer Protection Act –safety, quality, stability ( inflation , demand and supply)
• Land Act- land( as a natural resource foundational for food production) and food  availability, management ,sustainability
•  Seed and Plant Varieties Act –quality, availability, adequacy
•  Crops Act-quality, availability, adequacy
•  Irrigation  Act-availability
•  Public Health Act-safety , quality adequacy ( e.g nutrition)
• Pest Control and Product Act-quality and safety
• Climate Change Act-quality , availability , sustainability and stability
• Environmental Management and Coordination Act –quality , availability, sustainability, management

Key Recommendations

On diets, nutrition and health outcomes, the proposed recommendations were:

• Budgetary allocation – communication and awareness for nutrition education and dietary patterns
• Regulatory Framework – Regulation of marketing of unhealthy foods/processed; awareness creation through media campaigns to increase market share of healthy foods; identify influencers
• Design programs with Small and Micro Enterprises (SME) to create demand for the bio-fortified food
• Innovating business models and agro-processing and marketing
• Inclusion/strengthening curriculum to include nutrition
• Collaboration with Ministry of Trade (MoT) to harmonise regional trade policies to avoid over-dumping in the country to boost local production for the commercialisation -leverage of Africa free trade
• Design and conduct a study on cost drivers of producing healthy both at household and commercial level
• Adoption of smart agricultural practices

On food governance in the Kenyan context , the key recommendations were :

• Civic Education on right to food should not only be done by CSOs and the Government needs to take this up e.g. the Kenya National Human Rights Commission
• Improvements in linkages between MoA , MoH, Ministry of Social Services
• There is need for food effective food distribution systems and some level of local production in urban and peri-urban areas e.g. in Nairobi there is a law to promote urban agriculture. Intergovernmental relations to improve food distribution are also required
• Need for improved water and soil governance
• Need to for improved natural resource sharing agreements to reduce conflict

On environment and consumer behaviour , the key recommendations proposed were:

• Public participation is key and mechanisms should be put in place to ensure people actually participate
• There is need to address gatekeeping when it comes to community participation
• Women are not accessing information, there is need to ensure women participate
• Disclosure clauses and secret information for example on products such as round up. Farmers are told round up makes their work easier by clearing weeds but they are not told that round up has health and environmental implication

Affordability of food and access

• The state to cushion citizens from high food prices e.g through Food Rescue (subsidies, soup kitchen ,food banks) for those who cannot afford
• Monitor, analyse and implement food related legislations
• Reforms in the Social Safety Nets
• State increase the number of people benefitting from the social protection services
• More money to be allocated in the social safety nets

Economic

• Building capacity of farmers on value addition
• Avail tax free inputs for value addition
• Ensure that NCPBs are fully functional including availing staff
• Modernised facilities in the National Cereals and Produce Board(NCPB) including cold rooms and enabling storage of multiple produce apart from maize wheat and scheduled crops (more
• Stock NCBPs with modern facilities to enable storage of multiple produce
• More money to be allocated to research by the state

Information

• The state to establish accountability mechanisms and grievance redress for example when your right to food is violated where do you take it (Grievance Response Mechanisms on food)
• Protection of citizens from false advertising (so that they make informed decisions on choice of food)
• Full disclosure of information on food systems (inputs, seeds)

Economic

• Building capacity of farmers on value addition
• Avail tax free inputs for value addition
• Ensure that NCPBs are fully functional including availing staff
• Modernised facilities in the NCPBs including cold rooms and enabling storage of multiple produce apart from maize wheat and scheduled crops (more
• Stock NCBPs with modern facilities to enable storage of multiple produce
• More money to be allocated to research by the state

Information

• The state to establish accountability mechanisms and grievance redress for example when your right to food is violated where do you take it (Grievance Response Mechanisms on food)
• Protection of citizens from false advertising (so that they make informed decisions on choice of food)
• Full disclosure of information on food systems (inputs, seeds)
• Need for increased demand for accountability by citizens

Conclusion

The workshop was an opportunity for learning  and sharing of experiences especially in relation to legislations and opportunities for advancing the realisation of the right to food in Kenya.

References

1 Kevin Cheruiyot. Drought could worsen by December, Red Cross warns. The Star. September 9, 2021. https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2021-09-09-drought-could-worsen-by-december-red-cross-warns/

2 https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-47/en/

The Meeting was officially opened by Joachim Paul, regional Director-Heinrich Boll Foundation(HBS).Emmanuel Atamba in charge of Policy at HBS took the participant through the rationale for a legal document that speaks to the right to food .Rising costs of living were cited as one of the major reasons and this was linked to rising costs farm inputs of which farmers cannot afford linked to the war in Ukraine .It was also mentioned that food is a political issue and that it is very baffling to see when grassroots organisations demonstrate because of rising food prices , many people just peep at them through the window. It was said emphasised that Right to Food should be a concern for every Kenyan.

The participants were taken through the rationale for having a Right to Food Bill in Kenya. It was mentioned that apart from the Constitution, there is no law that is explicit on the right to food for the citizenry. It was said that there are various issues that warrant litigation when it comes to the right to food. The mentioned instances that make food litigious were cited as:

• When substandard food is sold
• When food becomes poisonous(aflatoxin)
• Impacts of extreme weather events on food on farms
• Death or illness as result of toxic substances in the food chain (pesticides )
• When citizens go hungry because of high cost of food
• When ingredients in food are higher than the WHO accepted levels g. sugars
• Adverse impacts of advertisements that negatively influence consumption

3 Njaa is a Kiswahili word for hunger

• Misinformation on adverts relating to food or farm inputs (e.g. wonder seeds, high yields which do not materialize)

Africa Group of Negotiators and Experts (AGNES) Strategy Meeting 

Currently across the continent, weather patterns are changing , there is an increased crop volatility including livestock .Extreme weather events are on the rise and are projects to become even more drastic in future.Climate change is compounding food insecurity on a continent already severely afflicted by hunger and malnutrition. The prevalence of undernourishment is estimated to be 19.1%, or 250.3 million people, across Africa; populations in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean are undernourished at less than half this rate (8.3% and 7.4 respectively. Africa has become home to the higher number of malnourished people at 433.2 million. According  to the FAO,(Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization) , in 2019, there was an estimated 3 billion people unable to afford the cheapest version of a healthy diet .

The Pre-  Subsidiary  Body for  Scientific  and Technological Advice (SBSTA)  African Group of Negotiators and Experts Support (AGNES) Strategy Meeting and Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture ( KJWA)  was co-organised by AGNES, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), Climate Research for Africa(CGIAR), Government of Kenya(GOK) –Ministry of Agriculture , International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), International Development Research Centre (IDRC),International Livestock Research Institute, Biodiversity International , Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Research in Africa (AIC Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA), Africa Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) , Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO) co-organised a workshop from 2^nd -4^th March  2022  at the Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha.

The  workshop brought together 40 participants. The participants included CSO representatives, government officials and climate change negotiators. The countries represented during the workshop were: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Lesotho, Rwanda, Burundi Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ghana, Zambia, Uganda, Togo,Benin,Zimbabwe,Tanzania, South Africa , South Sudan, Senegal, Sudan, Malawi , ,Nigeria ,Gambia, Tunisia and Djibouti.

Cross Section of Participants : Representing Governments , African Group of Negotiators and Civil Society 

The United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the twenty-third Conference of Parties (COP23) held in November in Bonn, Germany, Parties adopted the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA) that established a joint SBSTA and SBI work on agriculture, thus linking science and implementation.The objective of the Naivasha meeting was to :

-Finalising the two paragraphs on New Zealand(NZ) workshops

-Identify key elements of the report to  Conference of Parties (COP)27 on KJWA on issues related to agriculture.

-Agreeing on a draft decision on the future of KJWA on issues related to agriculture under the UNFCCC process for consideration and adoption.

-Consolidate AGN position on how to clean and finalise the two paragraphs on New Zealand workshops.

-Review key highlights on the outcomes of the six KJWA topics to inform the elements of the report to COP27 on issues related to agriculture and

-Prepare a draft decision on the future of KJWA under the UNFCCC process

The forum discussed IPCC report and climate urgency , focusing on devastating impact of climate change on the African continent with emphasis on rising hunger and extreme weather conditions.It was observed  that the Final Draft of the IPCC Report recognises the urgency of addressing climate change and mentions agroecology by stating that “ that ecosystem based integrated approaches such as agroecology that increases soil organic matter , enhances soil and water conservation and diversify food production systems.

The convening further deliberated on agroecology as a solution to the current climate crisis affecting Africa and the world at large.Representatives  members of AFSA from different countries shared their practices on agroecology and engagement with policy makers .The countries and organisations represented included Kenya ( Haki Nawiri Afrika , Regional Schools and Colleges Permaculture Programme and Indigenous Women and Girls Initiative ), Togo( Young Volunteers for the Environment), Uganda (Participatory Ecological Landu Use Management- PELUM).

Evidence of Agroecology in Climate Resilience -Presentation by BIOVISION

Experiences were shared on  agroecology as an entry point to addressing climate change  in various countries in Africa .These included:

-Enhancing efficiency and productivity of livestock sub-sectors

-Diversification –drought resistance and breeding

-Water technologies for recycling , irrigation and sustainable management of household agriculture and industrial purpose

-Efforts to diversify adaptive livelihood alternatives that enhance households resilience to climate shocks in a manner that the livelihoods options are friendly and co-exist with the natural ecosystem

-Integrating climate change adaptation and expansion of agroforestry

Other organisations  shared their work during the workshop.These included Consortium of Agricultural Research Centres(CGIAR) with a focus on climate security.The presentation entailed pathways climate –conflict linkages and how climate resilience peace works.It was said that climate change is a threat multipliers .It was discussed that policies and programmes fail to tackle the underlying  drivers of insecurity .It was mentioned that   climate science must be integrated into conflict  prevention and peace-building.It was mentioned that  there is need to leverage finance towards  more integrated progress.It was discussed that  it is important to build partnerships across sectors, galvanise expertise and harness innovation.It was stressed that it is important to have accurate and timely data on the funding in relation to addressing climate change.

Climate change was discussed in the context of human security .It was said that climate variability is manifested through variability in temperature and rainfall, increased evaporation , severer and prolonged droughts as well as  frequent floods. It was mentioned that climate variability impacts on agricultural  and pastoral systems , leads to decline in agricultural output as well, low investment in agriculture, drought induced livestock loss as well  as lack of  lack of pasture and water for livestock. It was mentioned that  environmental degradation results into pressure on resources , perceived scarcity and struggle of resource use. It was said that that  negative impacts on agricultural and pastoral systems  leads to  adverse effects on resource  availability and access and at the same time impacts livelihood and food security. It was discussed that  livelihoods and food insecurity lead to poverty and marginalisation, youth unemployment and social inequality  including among gender and regional inequalities.

Forced mobility and presence of refugee community was cited to be as a result of  pressure on resources , perceived scarcity and struggle over resources .It was discussed that  climate induced mobility leads to seasonal livestock mobility in dry periods .It was further said that  proximity and interaction between  refugees and host community often results into tensions   over shared resources   and risk of sexual and gender based violence.It was said that there is need for an understanding of complexities of  climate and security for informed decision making. It was discussed that t is important to programme for peace that is developing peace sensitive operations for  millions of beneficiaries. It was discussed that articulating the role of food systems in  a climate crisis for policies and frameworks is key and that leveraging  finance by aligning  objectives  and incentives align the humanitarian development and peace nexus. Key elements discussed were as follows:

     -Climate security gender nexus

     -Climate security mitigation nexus

     -Climate security inequality nexus

     -Climate security measurement indicators

     -Climate security migration nexus

     -Climate security policy coherence

On policy and technical potential for agroecology in Africa, It was discussed that  there are policy and technical potential and case studies were shared Kenya and Senegal. For the policy potential, it was said that translation of interdisciplinary and systemic nature of agroecology  into policies remains challenging .It was discussed that  results highlighting the importance of training and awareness raising activities as  well knowledge  to creation and  its dissemination.For example , the potential of agroecology for Kenya and Senegal  was stated as:

-Farmers practicing agroecology  farmers have significantly higher resilience than non-practicing farmers  farmers

-Agroecological systems have a higher capacity  to absorb , cope with and adapt  to climate change

-Agroecology enhances  both human and natural  capital of the farmer

-Spatial and temporal heterogeneity  as well as sharing of traditional knowledge  are aspects of strengthening resilience

It was stated that the  latest piece of evidence  from Ethiopia , push –pull study  is an extremely  good illustration of what agroecology  is at practice level  that is  building synergies between plants and animals , building up healthy soil , replacing fertilisers and pesticides  and replacing it by ecosystem services.

Agroecology for Climate Justice Dialogue-Machakos 

It was stated that  a campaign on Agroecology was launched by AFSA members in 2019 and this is being carried out in 14 African countries.During the workshop , on the ground experiences on agroecology were shared from Kenya, Uganda and Togo.From Togo, it was said that policy makers and community members were mobilised in support of agroecology.It was stated that the key strategies utilised were stakeholder mobilisation , information sharing , creation of platforms for exchanges using the Negotiated Approach.It was said that in Togo , the government has shown  the political will in support of agroecology.

Transition from Conventional Production  to Agroecology 

From Kenya , experiences of implementing an Agroecology for Climate Action Campaign was shared .The project is collaboratively implemented by https://hakinawiriafrika.org/, Regional Schools and Colleges Permaculture Programme and Indigenous Women and Girls Initiative.It was stated that activities undertaken during implementation of the campaign include community dialogues  on climate change and agroecology, stakeholder mobilization , engagement of policy makers, media engagement  and development of a policy brief. It was said that the community dialogues had been carried out in Machakos, Kiambu, Laikipia , Kajiado and Nairobi.It was explained that the objective of the campaign is to lobby for agroecology to be part of Kenya’s National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).It was discussed that an assessment of County policies was done to identify gaps in these policies .It was stated that a policy brief has been developed linking gaps and identification of opportunities   on  agroecology can address climate change in various counties in Kenya.

         Agroecology for Climate Action Community Dialogues

Participatory Land Use Management (PELUM)-Uganda PELUM shared their experiences  how they engage local communities and government on issues of agroecology. It was explained that a stakeholders meeting had been held which also involved showcasing community actions such as indigenous seeds and other  ecologically grown food. It was stated that government officials present in these forums were in support of agroecology and that moving forward , more dialogues would be held with communities for popular support.

It was stated that what causes the challenge towards adoption of agroecology is a set of lock-ins.These were highlighted  as the tight relationship between industry and governments t the expense of smallholder farmers.These lock-ins were said to be characterised by:Export orientation, concentration of power, expectation of cheap food, dependency, measures of success , short term thinking,feed the world narratives and short term thinking.

Million Belay -General Coordinator of the  Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa sharing about Lock ins and how they Impact on Agroecology 

An interrogation was made as to how policies could be used to address climate related challenges .This , it was  questioned could be through  producing more food, production of more food which is nutritious and healthy, producing more food with is nutritious and healthy and without affecting the biosphere including the climate.

     Policy and Climate Crisis 

The narratives for Green Revolution in Africa were describes as priority to businesses to produce  more and feed Africa,farmers seed being labelled part of the problem and should be replaced with patented hybrids,the problem of calorie , thus more calories being proposed as a solution, land should be given to those who can make it more productive, reorienting  agriculture to the market , knowledge comes from science and that it is possible to produce one fits all solution.

Assessment of AGRA Progress Goals in Africa 

The forum discussed the 10 elements of agroecology according to FAO ,which was described as a myriad of interactions and interdependences which included recycling, synergies , co-creation and sharing of knowledge diversity , human and social values and responsible governance.An assessment of the progress of AGRA’s goals was sharing with main findings which included:

-No evidence of 100%  increase in productivity

-Maize is the favoured crop ,  overall staple yields  up to only 18%

-Subsidies expanded and planted to favoured crops not yields

-No evidence of incomes doubling , poverty levels is high

-Resulted in erosion of local varieties

On the way forward, in relation to the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture,  it was stated that there was an acknowledgement of the issues relating to agriculture, the existing gaps on the work of constituted bodies in relation to agriculture in the UNFCC process so as to enhance action in agriculture through domestic actions and international cooperation. There was a welcoming of new topics and a highlighting of the potential of creating interlinkages that lead to enhanced action and improvements in implementation. It was stated that there is enhanced consideration and imp, mentation of issues related to agriculture and that there is a fundamental priority of safeguarding food security and ending hunger and the particular vulnerabilities of food production systems to the adverse impacts of climate change. It was said that there is a recognition that the impact of COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the limited resilience of the global food systems and limited the achievements of Sustainable Development Goals including the efforts towards self-food sufficiency. It was said that the convening welcomed the IPCC Working Group I and II continuation to the 6^th Assessment Report which highlights the vulnerability of the agricultural systems to adverse impacts of climate change. It was acknowledged that there is increasing weather and climate extreme events have exposed millions of people to acute food and water insecurity, especially small-scale food producers, low income households and Indigenous Peoples in developing countries. It was acknowledged that there is need to strengthen and enhance the existing institutional arrangements to enable consolidate and advance work on issues related to agriculture. The urgency of scaling up action and support including finance, capacity building and technology development and transfer was emphasised, to enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change of farmers and other vulnerable groups, particularly women and youth. A proposal for decision to establish the Koronivia (Standing)Committee on Agriculture to enhance action in agriculture through domestic actions and international cooperation. It was stated that all constituted bodies under the Convention and operating entities of the Financial Mechanisms to consider  how to integrate and strengthen issues related to agriculture in their existing mandates and work plans and to report regularly to the Conference of Parties on these activities and at the same time identify progress and further work to be undertaken , commencing a the twenty eighth session(COP28).Parties and observer organisations were invited to submit their views on the Committee ( idea) and this was to be done by March 2023.The United Nations and other relevant institutions , agencies and entities , research community , CSOs and farmer organisations, and the private sector were called upon to strengthen cooperation and collaboration , including through partnerships with the Committee for enhanced action in the agriculture sector.

Group Photo

The effects of a third consecutive below-average rainy season are resulting in deteriorating food security outcomes driven by the impacts of poor crop and livestock production, resource-based conflict, livestock disease and mortality, and the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2022, the KFSSG’s annual Short Rains Assessment reported that there are around3.1 million food-insecure people in pastoral and marginal agricultural areas, a 48 percent increase since August 2021.²Due to the prolonged drought, the Ministry of Agriculture in Kenya reports that a total of 1.5 million livestock died in three months to march, this putting the lives of pastoralists who rely on animals at stake. Of these 253,000 were cattle, 1.21 million sheep/goats and 43 were camels.³ The most affected regions of the country are arid and Semi-Arid(ASAL) areas. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistic (KNBS), the overall inflation rate as measured by Consumer Price index(CPI) or the cost of living index, rose mainly due to an increase in food prices and those of non-alcoholic beverages.⁴

Prices of basic commodities have risen in the country for example a 2kg of maize costs between Kshs. 200 to 215 but has since been lowered to Kshs 150.Furthermore, there is currently a subsidised maize flour costing Kshs 100, however this is   cheaper maize flour is a hurdle for many people because it is not available and in supermarkets where it is found , there are large queues.The price of cooking oil has also skyrocketed. This is coming in the wake of the negative economic impacts of COVID-19 including job losses and closure of business.

Unga ( maize flour )-Kenyans Staple Food 

Organised by the Route to Food Coalition,  Food Manifesto assesses the current food security issues, demystifies some of the common myths and misconceptions about food and provides proposed interventions to address the current food security issues in Kenya as well as bold a foundation for a sustainable, equitable food system for Kenya. The Launch of the Food Manifesto was held at Villa Rosa  in Nairobi and brought together representatives from government, politicians ,both in office and aspiring, CSOs and the media. Haki Nawiri Afrikahttps://hakinawiriafrika.org/ was  one of the CSOs that were represented at the Launch of the Manifesto.

                                                                  The Food Manifesto

The Food Manifesto looks at the current food security issues, demystifies some of the common myths and misconceptions about food and provides nine (9) proposed interventions to address the current food security issues in the country as well as build a foundation for a sustainable, equitable food system for Kenya as enshrined in the Kenyan Constitution , Article 43.

Why a Food Manifesto?

A Food Manifesto is relevant to Kenya as a country because  of the  belief that it is important for political leaders to include food agenda in their political manifestos at a time when the country is gearing up to have a change of guard at all levels of leadership,to have all stakeholders think have all the relevant stakeholders think critically about matters food, the devastating impacts of hunger on Kenyans as well as the rising cost of food,the statistics that tell a grim tale of hunger and food insecurity for example over 5 million Kenyans suffer from chronic food insecurity while a further 1.5 millIon are constantly exposed to severe food insecurity and the risk of starvation.Additionally in the Kenyan context, there lacks a political commitment  to address food insecurity, the solutions presented are often quick fix which inadequately respond to the felt needs in terms of food .Agriculture also plays a key role as an employer and 70% of Kenyans are engaged in agricultural production according to FAO.

Launch of the Food Manifesto 

The Launch of the Food manifesto took place on 23^rd June 2022 and involved sharing of perspectives from government officials, CSOs, Kenyans citizens, current and aspiring politicians and media. Issues emanating from the launch focused on food as a national security, support to farmers, budgetary allocation, non functionality of agricultural extension services within the country and the view that food is a national security issue.

In Kenya , food is not accorded the importance it deserves .The prices of food have been left to market forces with food prices skyrocketing to over 100 percent in a very short period. Access to food has become a mirage for many people, with some due to vulnerability have resorted to consuming dogs, which is considered not culturally appropriate among Kenyan communities. Furthermore, people have to go to the streets to express their displeasure on rising food prices evidenced by the recent Njaa(hunger) Revolution demonstrations on the 7^th of July 2022, it is quite unfortunate that during similar demonstrations over basic commodities, many Kenyans often label activists as troublemakers.

The views of participants during the Launch of the Food Manifesto was that food should be treated as a national security issue because hunger has the power to make people go berserk. It is also important to spend more on budgetary allocation for food because food has the potential of resulting into insecurity.

Agricultural extension service and food production go hand in hand, but this is non-functional in Kenya. Annually we get to see adverts for police officers and other state security agents, however, agriculture which is the backbone of the country hardly ever gets extension service officers adverts. Agriculture has been abandoned and particularly smallholder farmers left to the mercy of corporations who sell them seeds and agrochemicals that end up affecting the soil and yields.

On regional policy environment and how it relates to food, since the Maputo Declaration, there has never been adequate allocation of resources to agriculture and that despite its importance. Agriculture is not given enough attention. It is therefore of great relevance that Kenyans meaningfully participate in budgetary processes at the county and local levels and demand more money to be allocated to agriculture. It is very wrong to quote very many statistics on agriculture being the backbone of Kenya as a country and yet citizens continue to go hungry day by day.

Youth in Kenya will not be attracted to agriculture if the problems of the past within the sector have not been resolved. Agriculture can be made to be more attractive to the youth who can engage in various levels of the value chain, as not every young person can become a farmer, but can still engage in food production at different levels. Youth in Kenya have embraced ICT and this can be used in processes such as advertising, marketing and sales. Agriculture is a devolved function in Kenya, this calls for infrastructure to be availed to support farming, if this is done, Kenyan youth will not be complaining of lack of jobs because there is a lot of potential in agriculture. Furthermore, food is something consumed every hence there is always a ready market.

It has been observed that during Kenya’s General Election campaigns very few people are discussing the subject of food. There is need for the electorates to demand realization of the right to food and interrogate political manifestos and what their stand for on matters Right to Food. Food need not be left to market forces because very many people are suffering and sadly politicians continued to campaign and organise huge rallies when sections of citizens go to bed on empty stomachs.

Food is political and that politicians are not the only stakeholders when it comes to maters food. The year 2022 is an electioneering year in Kenya, however very few people are had been discussing the right to food during these campaigns. Electorates need to demand the realization of the right to food, interrogate manifestos and question what these manifestos say about the right to food. It is absurd that politicians continued to campaign while would be voters were dying of hunger and malnutrition in many parts of the country.

Launch of the Food Manifesto

An envisioned future for Kenya, in the wake of climate crisis, rising food insecurity and skyrocketing global food prices as well as the fact that Kenyans are going into elections of new leaders, what the country requires in relation to food production in the country would be a future where resources are adequately available for agriculture, where images of farmers wearing tattered clothes and sweating in the sun is a thing of the past. Kenya also needs an environment where smallholder   farmers are supported adequately, given that agriculture is a devolved function. Consumers also need to be more conscious of what they eat and demand healthy food, produced through agroecology.

References

https://ne-np.facebook.com/nation/posts/igah-editorial-cartoon-bitly3bwpgzd/10160270960519497/

https://oxfam.org/en/press-releases/terrifying-prospect-over-quarter-billion-more-people-crashing- extreme-levels-poverty

https://reliefweb.int/report/kenya/kenya-food-security-outlook-update-february-september-

2022#:~:text=In%20February%202022%2C%20the%20KFSSG’s,percent%20increase%20since%20August%2020 21.

https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/economy/1-5m-livestock-die-on-biting-drought-3781484

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/business/article/2001443132/kenya-tops-countries- with-high-food-prices-in-latest-ranking

Art has been used since time immemorial in the African context. Art plays various roles in society. This includes a medium to inform people about something, to educate and  to mobilise people to act about an issue.

During the struggle for independence, in many counties across Africa , art was used to mobilise communities to demand freedom , to bring people together as well as to build consciousness about oppression. For example in the coastal region of Kenya , Mekatilili wa Menza used art through songs and dance  .The first incidence was in response to her brother’s capture into slavery by Arab slave traders in a market in Kilifi[1]Mekatilili’s resistance was also as a result of the intended removal of the community from Sabaki River  and introduction of hut tax[2].Mekatilili’s  message was no cooperation with the British , her other target was British’s prohibition of mnazi a popular wine brewed in the coastal region.Mekatilili spoke out against oppression and using kifudu dance , which  brought crowds together and spoke to them on resistance[3]

In the current times , through arts , individuals and communities are resisting .Using poetry, satirical cartoons , twitters and other social media platforms , communities are saying no to bad governance , repressive regimes and  rights violations meted on communities .For example in Kenya , renowned cartoonists Gado[4] and Gathara[5] has used cartoons as a form of expression, to bring out consciousness on issues affecting Kenyans , Africans and other parts of the world. These artists make use of  satire and humour which have been very effective  in raising consciousness on issues .Examples of issues cartoonists have raised in Kenya and across the East Africa region include corruption,[6] succession , Covid 19 and violation of rights and freedoms[7][8] and leadership[9] among others.

Other avenues used have been music such as Juliani through he song Utawala[10] ( Governance ) where he speaks about inequality, the suffering of the masses and how poor governance has contributed to this state of affairs. The song also speaks about classes , the haves and the have nots[11] Other example of art in checking state excesses have been done by spoken word artistes such as Dorphan who speaks about the sad state of Kenyan Heroes and what befell them in this spoken word Mashujaa[12] and links the suffering of Kenya’s freedom fighters to the everyday suffering of the ordinary Kenyan. Another example is Abdilatif Abdalla’s writing Kenya Twendapi?- Kenya where are we heading? As a critique  of the then president Jomo Kenyatta on the dictatorial tendencies and the KANU government[13].Abdilatif was imprisoned for 3 years after the publication in 1968, making him Kenya’s earliest political prisoners.Additionally with the onset of Covid 19 and the rights violations taking place more so in informal settlements , artists in Kenya’s Nairobi area , developed wall murals expressing rights violations such as arbitrary arrests and also educating the community about Covid19[14]

Music has also been used to express displeasure and speak truth to power. Kenya has had musicians speak against injustice through political songs figuratively packaged using metaphors, symbolism and personification[15].Misiani’s- a Kenyan musician  songs focused on Kenya’s dark days of political repression, multipartism and disillusionment(Oloo 2007)[16]Erick Wainaina also sang about corruption in the song Nchi ya Kitu Kidogo ( a country of bribery) depicting the high levels of corruption in the country.[17]

In Tanzania, Vitali Maembe is renowned for his activist music on issues such as corruption, governance , natural resource management[18].Sadly speaking truth to power has resulted into artistes being arrested[19] as the case of Vitali Maembe because of his song Kaisari(Caesar)[20] which speaks about campaign promises vis a vis what electorates get after election.

Street protests in form of theatre have also been used as resistance for example when activists took pigs[21] to Kenyan parliament –reflecting on the greed among politicians when they wanted to increase their allowances yet , citizenry who elected them continue to suffer from a myriad of social problems.

Art plays a key role in society and serves to mobilise , build consciousness and respond to repressive regimes.

References

Cover Photos : Tanzanian Musician and Activist -Vitali Maembe

Photo Credit @ Amanda Lichtenstein https://advox.globalvoices.org/2016/06/20/tanzanian-musician-and-activist-maembe-vitali-arrested-and-released/

[1] https://artsandculture.google.com/story/mekatilili-wa-menza-the-story-of…

[2] ibid

[3] https://www.worldpulse.com/community/users/leonida/posts/96573

[4] http://gadocartoons.com/

[5] https://africasacountry.com/author/patrick-gathara

[6] http://gadocartoons.com/corona-virus-and-e-learning/

[7] http://gadocartoons.com/african-longest-serving-rulers/

[8] http://gadocartoons.com/press-freedom-and-corona-virus/

[9] http://gadocartoons.com/african-longest-serving-rulers/

[10] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh9Ux7WH2KE

[11] https://www.artlawkenya.com/niko-njaa-na-siwezi-karanga-again/

[12] https://www.artlawkenya.com/niko-njaa-na-siwezi-karanga-again/

[13] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/africa/article/kenya-twendapi-re…

[14] https://unhabitat.org/youth-in-nairobi-slum-use-murals-to-educate-the-co…

[15]https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/123456789/1435/correcte…

[16] ibid

[17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr7_OI7QmVk

[18] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22rScL4SSVU, https://www.amazon.com/Majamvi/dp/B00VF950H8

[19] https://www.musicinafrica.net/magazine/tanzania-vitali-maembe-arrested-o…

[20] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYvGryOTCsw

[21] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-22522846

Across different parts of Africa, when Covid- 19 was detected in 2020 many young people took up the responsibility of meaningful engagement in addressing the challenges that came with the pandemic. Covid-19 is a virus that is not well understood, it has a lot of mystery and anxiety. The virus is also shrouded in a lot of myths as well as stigma.Parents feared letting their children get out of the house  due to fear. There was a lot of panic buying , supermarkets were flooded and many people were stocking their houses with food , aisles selling tissue papers and disinfectant were literally empty. Furthermore,  multiple laws and human rights violations, not forgetting the loss of sources of livelihoods, increased in Gender Based Violence and in extreme cases death[1].To date , many families in Kenya and Africa at large are still nursing COVID- 19 related wounds.Masks were very expensive in March 2020 , many families in informal settlements were sharing the same mask among multiple family members.

In many communities, youth were responsible for awareness creation about COVID-19. This was for example through murals urging community members to sanitise and keep social distance. Young people were responsible for provision of the much needed psychosocial support to deal with the anxiety and disruptions that Covid 19 brought. Through phone calls, anxious families were reassured. Young people were also responsible for documenting cases of abuse, for example in Kenya, many young people especially school girls were impregnated during COVID-19 period.[2]Many young people also provided food, soap, masks and sanitisers to vulnerable households. These include households of elderly people in both urban and rural areas, households with persons having disabilities be it mental, physical or visual. Some youths were responsible for organising pads distribution to enable young girls who can only access pads while in school to access them at home. Period poverty is a reality in many part of Africa and many young girls are lured into transactional sex because they cannot afford sanitary pads[3].

With the onset of Covid 19 and the inherent economic disruptions, many families across Africa could not afford their basic necessities. In Kenya for example, curfews and cessation of movement[4] meant inter-county movement was paralysed. Many families suffered. Some Civil Society Organisations engaged young people to distribute food and other basic necessities to vulnerable groups such as in informal settlements and other pockets of poverty, for example Mathare Legal Aid and Human Rights Advocacy (MLHRA).This organisation home visit services especially for the elderly and the sick in Mathare during COVID- 19.

Young people also came in to address the gaps in misinformation[5] around COVID- 19 by creating awareness and using art. From 2020 to date many songs have been composed about Covid 19 and its impacts. For example in Uganda , the Masaka Kids composed songs , reassuring communities that COVID-19 would come to an end[6], African artistes did collaborative songs , speaking about how  communities should protect themselves from the virus[7]  and to raise awareness about the novel virus.[8] With COVID- 19 , came school closures .Many children could not continue with their classes and the few minority were able to continue because they had access to electricity, online gadgets such as computers and tablets and  access to internet connectivity. COVID- 19 created armies of idle children, holed up within household, with some being subjected to all forms of violations including physical and sexual violence. Some young people took upon themselves to provide continued educational opportunities. Some volunteered as teachers to provide English and Mathematics classes, others offered remedial classes for those in secondary school, while others provided test papers to students and graded them according to performance. An example of this in the Kenyan Peasant’s League for children in informal settlements such as Kangemi and Dam areas in Nairobi city.

Young people also provided emergency services in the community, for example accompanying pregnant women to hospital, seeking ambulances among others. Young people also ensured that the community got the much needed services such as emergency medical care and psychosocial support. It is quite unfortunate that  governments were telling people every day on news to sanitise, stay at home and keep social distance , while it is the same governments that were evicting people in the midst of a pandemic and  bad weather( rainy season).Take for example in Nairobi’s Kariobangi North Sewerage settlement in  Kenya.[9]These evictions affected  over 5,000 families.[10] Young people mobilised resources in form of food and money , and some spearheaded funds drives to pay rent for the evicted families[11].Others assisted vulnerable families such as those who had lost their businesses and could no longer pay rent[12].

Furthermore, youths were also responsible for calling out on cases of rights violations that were very rampant under the guise of containing a pandemic. Young people used street art as canvas to create awareness on rights violations and correct the myths and misconceptions about Covid 19. Young people also responded to case of Gender Based Violence by providing rescue services to survivors of violence, reporting cases and making follow ups during court visits. Young people also provided the much needed emotional support that comes with having a case in court. Other organisations working with youth people provided spaces for learning and sharing about human rights. This was and still is important because with the pandemic, more rights violations are  taking place not only in Africa but across different parts of the world. Take for example Haki Nawiri Afrika which organised psychosocial support sessions for students and out of school youth in Nairobi as part of resilience building and coping during a pandemic. In these forums, young people were able to share their anxieties with Covid 19, impacts and coping mechanisms. These spaces provided mental relief as young people realised they were first of all lucky to be alive and that there were very many young people going through the same challenges. Additionally, Haki Nawiri Afrika provided human rights education[13]  and paralegal training sessions to enable university students and out of school youth defend and demand their rights given the vulnerability and fragility of rights that came with the pandemic. Other examples include organising online dialogues on human rights and shrinking civic space, enabling cross border sharing and deliberations on human rights and Covid 19, including sharing of best practices in coping mechanisms.

In Africa , Covid brought to the fore the creativity and resilience of the African people .Many families started making their own soap  and disinfectant ,others started sewing their own masks .Instead of buying expensive masks , you could see colourful kitenge(fabric) masks.Despite the stigma inherent in Covid 19, it also brought communities together , the African ubuntu , caring for one’s neighbours who may not have food , mobilising for support to the less fortunate.

It is very important to acknowledge and laud the different roles that young people played and still play  in responding to the COVID- 19 pandemic, not all the heroes and heroines of COVID-19 are not only  in the medical field, some of them are the ordinary brothers and sisters who  exist in our very own communities.

References

Photo Credit @Mathare Roots Initiative

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/kenyan-police-shot-dead-a-te…

[2] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-teenage-pregnancie…

[3] https://borgenproject.org/period-poverty-in-kenya/#:~:text=Research%20sh….

[4]https://www.facebook.com/NTVKenya/posts/breaking-cessation-of-movement-in-and-out-of-nairobi-kilifi-kwale-mombasa-and-ma/10156520750744058/

[5] https://www.un.org/africarenewal/web-features/coronavirus/meet-10-young-…

[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAy2KpNCApE

[7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6NvTF0hTJY

[8] https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2020/07/18/african-music-stand-toge…

[9] https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/10/nairobi-evicts-8000-people-amidst-pa…

[10] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-kenya-homelessness…

[11] https://nairobinews.nation.co.ke/mother-names-her-baby-after-activist-wh…

[12] https://jesuitmissions.org.uk/assisting-the-homeless-in-kenya/

[13] https://hakinawiriafrica.wordpress.com/2021/10/31/human-rights-social-ju…

The International Covenant on Civil and Political  Rights (ICCPR) says that death sentence shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons who are below the age of 18 years and for pregnant women, the ICCPR further says that  in a remand , juvenile ought to be separated from adults .The Covenant further recognises that children have a right to non-discrimination, name and nationality and to protection by the family .The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) calls upon governments to provide special measures to protect children from economic and social exploitation. Examples include work that can negatively affects a child’s health, morals or pose a danger to the child’s life .

The United Nations Minimum Rules on Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules)[2] provides for acceptable standards for administration of juvenile justice .This includes the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the child be informed promptly about the charge, to have the mater determined without delay, the right to legal representation and assistance , diversion as an alternative to court proceedings and enhancement of a child’s dignity at all times and rehabilitation and reintegration of the child back into society. The United Nation’s Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (Riyadh Guidelines)[3] urges states to come up with programmes that prevent  juveniles from engaging in delinquency .For example empowerment of the family socially and economically so that children do not drop out of school, educational curricular that enhances moral wellbeing of children and community based initiatives that nurture  talents and steer children from crime.

According to United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child categorises children’s rights into survival rights ( inherent right to life –Art.6), rights to access health and medical services (Article 24) , Right to the highest standards of living including access to nutritious food, clean and safe drinking water and appropriate clothing ( Art. 25).Development rights have to do with intellectual, physical , moral and emotional development and include Right to Freed and compulsory education (Art.28) , Right to rest, play , leisure and recreation (Art. 31), parental love and care (Art. 5, 7, 9 and 19 ).Protection rights are contained in Article 34 – protection from sexual exploitation, economic exploitation (Art.32) , discrimination (Art.2) , armed conflict and hostilities(Art.38) , and harmful cultural practices (Art. 24) among other forms of protection. The rights to participate is recognised through  Art. 12 on right to form and air views, Art.13 on right to expression, Art.31 on right to participate in cultural and artistic activities as well as the right to association contained in Art.15.

Many children in Africa do not get to enjoy their rights as contained in the international conventions, regional documents  as well as national constitutions. The reasons vary from parental irresponsibility, conflicts and wars, poverty  and discrimination , the effects of climate change among other challenges.

Family breakup and divorce affects the mental health of children. Many times when families split children are  left feeling abandoned , many go through court processes to determine who gets custody of the children , some are forced to adapt to new lifestyles while others are forced to go back to the village .Loss of incomes in the family also affect children because some have to drop out of school if the breadwinner losses a job or becomes incapacitated. A  random chat with children , you will find out that some dropped out of school and became house helps in order to  supplement family incomes. This is also contributing to intra and inter-country human trafficking.When employed young as domestic servants , children go through a lot of exploitation from low pay , overwork, vulnerability to sexual exploitation and developmental challenges and are unable to negotiate with their employer because of their capacity. Sometimes family members lie that they will take for example an orphaned child to school only to turn this child into a house help, majority of those who suffer from this are girls. When a  family member gets sick , more often it is the girl child who gets withdrawn from school to come and take up care roles. Covid 19 has also contributed to the suffering of children in Africa , from loss of sources of incomes among parents which has directly affected children to cases of defilement and violence on children  for example teenage pregnancies[4].

Teenage pregnancy is another hurdle that many children in Africa grapple with and this burden including blame is  always either transferred to mothers or grandparents to become caregivers as the teenage mothers are often unable to provide the much needed care for their young children. Wars and conflict spell darkness for an African child. Various countries in the continent have experienced conflicts or are undergoing conflict .For example South Sudan- Africa’s youngest nation has had conflict leading to death , loss of property and rising numbers of refugees, other examples include Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo  among others. These conflicts have lifelong scars on children as some watch their family members being  killed , others have to flee across dangerous terrains towards safety.

Recruitment of children to be  soldiers goes contrary to rights of children as contained in many constitutions in Africa as well as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child( ACRWC),however there are countries where children have been recruited to become  child soldiers[5] and participate in wars and some end up being  captured as prisoners of war, while others mostly females get abducted to become  “brides[6]” to soldiers during war , a phenomenon that negatively affects normal life of the affected children including their reintegration back into society. This has happened in countries such as Sierra Leone and Northern Uganda.

Child marriage is another occurrence  common in Africa that interferes the enjoyment of rights by children. For example among the Samburu community in Kenya, beading process prepared girls for a future of marriage . According to the beading tradition the  Morans are allowed to have a temporary marital relationship with a very young girl from the same clan as the warrior. Morans[7] buy beads for the girl and the objective of the beading is to prepare the young girls for marriage in the future[8].With beading comes unwanted pregnancies[9].Furthermore , young girls are forced to get married to people three or four times older than them , for examplehe case of a 12 year old who was married off to a 51 year old man and had to be rescued  from early marriage[1].

There is also the element of maslah[10] where cases are settled by elders at the local level. , some of these cases are rape and defilement .During the negotiation to settle a case through the traditional leaders, nobody  cares about the survivor of the violation and this is a scar the affected person(s) have to live with for the rest of their lives. Other times families get bribed and in some cases threatened to let go of a case involving a child.

Parental irresponsibility also contributes to violation of rights of the child. There are various reasons for parental irresponsibility towards their children. Some parents neglect their children to revenge on their other partner , others neglect children because of poverty, while some children suffer neglect because they do not have parents or guardians for example street children who scavenge for food in many cities across Africa , others are neglected because of loss of biological parents and guardians mandated to take care of them are not taking good care of them. Furthermore, some children suffer neglect because they are under the care of elderly grandmothers and grandfathers who due to frailness and age cannot provide the much needed care , support and attention to these young ones. Children also suffer  in the hands of relatives. For example in Kenya , there has been numerous reported cases of children being defiled by their relatives. For example a 70 year old defiling a 5 year old girl[11] and in some cases , these children get infected by Sexually Transmitted Diseases(STIs)  including HIV[12].There also parts of Africa where myths abound that sexual intercourse with a child cures HIV and this has fuelled defilement of children. Other examples include parents who refuse to take their children to school because their religion does not allows it,[13] while others refuse to take their children to hospitals because  of religious beliefs.

Young boys suffer from economic exploitation across different parts of Africa .For example  in some countries children carry out mining activities .This is more so during illegal mining activities. This puts children at risk of injuries and death in case the mines cave in or oxygen supplies in the mines is interfered with leading to .Reported cases of children engaged in mining activities include cases in Tanzania as reported by Human Rights Watch[14], children’s engagement in mining activities is also echoed by the International Labour Organisation(ILO) which reports that there are 1 million children engaged in mining  and quarrying  in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe working in artisanal small-scale mining and quarrying. The reasons unscrupulous people use children in mining and quarrying is because of the children’s small bodies which can get into tunnels easily during the mining process.

Child abuse is a phenomenon affecting millions of children in Africa but is something that is often subtle and portrayed as “discipline”. Sometimes the  so called discipline is very severe that it leaves children with scars , both physical and emotional. These punishments take place at home and within institutions such as  schools  and children’s homes. Examples of signs and symptoms of physical abuse among children include whip or cane scars, burns, bit marks , bleeding and bruises, fractures and dislocations.Other times children get sent home for fees, some miss exams[15] in the process. When children are abused and neglected, they exhibit various signs and symptoms. These include aggressive or violent behaviour, some bow to peer pressure and start abusing drugs, others run away from home , especially if the home is violent or the parents keep fighting.

Children are the future, they are vulnerable and therefore must be protected at all costs.

References

[1] https://www.sos-usa.org/about-us/where-we-work/africa/children-in-africa333

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53420353[2] https://www.ohchr.org/documents/professionalinterest/beijingrules.pdf

[3]https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/PreventionOfJuvenile…

[4] https://borgenproject.org/rise-of-teen-pregnancy-during-kenyas-lockdown/

[5] https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2018/10/30/child-soldiers-of-south-sudan

[6] https://www.news24.com/News24/Girls-abducted-as-war-brides-20040130

[7] Moran is a Maasai word for warrior

[8] https://kios.fi/en/2017/03/local-organisation-fights-against-human-right…

[9] ibid

[10] https://roggkenya.org/2020/08/02/maslah-courts-injustice-to-somali-women/

[11] https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/rift-valley/article/2001413398/man-gets-…

[12] https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/entertainment/index.php/the-standard/200…

[13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-Vi4te1Zeo

[14] https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/09/11/africas-child-mining-shame

[15] https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/64136-magoha-directs-tsc-punish-teacher-a…

Author:Brian Kibet

“Human Rights are not country specific. They are not a reward for good behavior, or particular to certain era or social group. They are inalienable entitlements for all people, at all times and everywhere, 365 days a year.” ZeidRaad Al Hussen[1]

Why would a top United Nations official emphasise on the inviolability of human rights? Why do Human Rights Campaigners make a lot of noise when some of these rights are violated? Is it right for people to picket when they feel their rights are violated? And above all, why do human rights matter? This article endeavours to answer these questions. Its objective is to show that human rights ensure the human aspect in all of us is recognised and that standing up in defense of human rights is humanistic. In doing so it begins by analysing the theories on application of human rights. It goes ahead to show how human rights have been incorporated in Kenyan laws. It proceeds to give a critical appraisal as to how human rights ensure that Kenyans live better lives. It then concludes.

Human Rights have been conceptualised under two prominent theories, the cultural relativism theory and the universalism theory. The cultural relativism theory contends that moral standards across the globe are relative to the cultures from which they are derived. As such, generalisation of human rights as all-embracing and standard among all humans only seeks to “globalise western values”[2].  In this regard, they call for redefining of human rights to mean that which is moral and acceptable within a given social cultural aspect. Universalism on the other hand put out that human rights are inherent nature and as such should be applied in a way that is acceptable to all cultures[3]. This notion is based on the belief in the indivisibility of human rights.

I find the universalism theory more convincing. To my mind, being humane to another human is a virtue that is common to all well-meaning persons anywhere on earth. The demand of human rights is tolerance to opinions and sentiments of others as well according persons the opportunity to raise concerns when there are any. Therefore, Human rights should apply equally and in a standard manner across the globe and should be realised immediately in all communities worldwide. The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) is the document that best exemplifies the spirit of the universalism theory of human rights.

On 10^th December 1948, the UDHR was adopted as resolution number 217 by the United Nations General Assembly then sitting in Paris, France. Considered the harbinger of the fundamental freedoms and inalienable rights we enjoy today, the UDHR established the concepts of human dignity and equal value of all persons among others as the “common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations”[4].  Today these concepts remain so and are enshrined in many declarations and are ensconced in swathes of legislations and constitutions globally.

The UDHR affirms that human rights have a universal character and apply to all humans with no prejudice to distinctions of any kind like sex, colour, social origin, language and religion. The provisions set out in the UDHR have been co-opted in the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 in chapter four which is titled “The Bill of Rights”. It asserts, among others, the bare minimums expected of those handling the affairs of other with regards to dignity and the entitlements of the citizen as a human being.

It succeeds in doing so in a bipartite manner. First it provides for the economic and social rights[5]. This ambit grants persons the right to safe working spaces, clean environment, and basic necessities like food, healthcare and housing as well as safety nets to cushion the vulnerable persons[6]. Secondly, it gives Kenyans civil and political rights[7] which include the right to assembly, right to fair trial, freedom from torture and illegal detention[8], among others. The constitution goes ahead to make it the fundamental duty of the state to ensure that every state organs promotes and fulfils the rights and fundamental freedoms as provided from in the constitution.[9]

The discrepancies in opportunities and our abilities as human beings are bound to create material inequality amongst us. That is why there exists the rich, the middle class, and the poor in our societies. This notwithstanding, all people’s lives have equal value and are entitled to same levels of dignity and respect. That is why all persons are equal before the law and have equal rights. Human rights therefore arise as a shield to protect the vulnerable groups in our communities from being profiled and targeted. This is the reason why legislations that protect the rights of ethnic minorities and other disadvantaged and minority groups are being enacted world over.

Human Rights accord everyone their basic needs that sustain life. Everyone needs adequate food, affordable housing, access to quality healthcare, clean water and decent clothing in order to maintain reasonable levels of dignity and to live productive and full lives. The promise of the economic and social rights aspect of human rights is that even the “lowest” of our society can easily afford these basic needs. Human rights thereby provide a safety net of some kind that ensures that poverty does not dehumanise human beings.

Climate change continues to wreak havoc globally as persons are displaced by raising sea and lake levels, droughts and floods. As a result, lives and livelihoods have been lost causing distress and untold suffering in many communities. The right to safe and clean environments which for an integral part of human rights seek to ensure that the powers that be ensure that development is sustainable and conserves and protects the environment. In the same vein, it calls for more action in the mitigation of the effects of climate change.

Moreover, environmental rights also empower persons to sue companies that pollute their air, water and land. Residents of Owino Uhuru slums in Mombasa successfully sued for compensation for lead poisoning, and were awarded Ksh.1.3 Billion from a lead smelter who used to recycle lead acids batteries[10]. Though the decision has since been appealed, it portrays human rights as a sword with which persons can fight against the destruction of the planet they call home. Consequently, human rights are critical in the fight against pollution and climate change generally.

In a world where it not uncommon for those in power to exercise the same in villainy where corruption and plunder of public resources is a norm, human rights come in handy to check on these excesses. The right to assembly,  picket and demonstrate in a peaceful manner provide the much-needed avenue to call out on leader and in some case dethrone despots and inept leaders. On such instance was in Sudan where the masses deposed President Omar Al Bashir through demonstrations. As such rights offer a means for the people to exercise their sovereign power directly. In this sense, Human Rights are the vanguard for the push for the transparency and accountability by governments anywhere on earth.

It is noteworthy that if persons are unequal, then no amount of equal treatment can overcome the disadvantage. By making all persons equal, Human Rights provide the level playing field necessary for the amelioration of the disadvantaged in our communities. As a shield of the vulnerable, human rights seek to bend the arch of the moral universe toward justice, dignity and liberty to all humans and as a sword of the have-nots, human rights provide avenues for their plights to be heard and acted upon.

Much as the tasks towards the attainment of the respect of human rights is gargantuan, never are we absolved of our obligation to ensure their entrenchment in the society so that they can apply to all people, at all times and everywhere, 365 days a year.

References

• Zeid Raad Al Hussein served as United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner from 2014-2018
• Richard A. Wilson, Human Rights, Culture & Context, Anthropological Perspectives, Pluto Press 1997
• Karen Musalo, When Rights and Cultures Collide. Markkula Centre, Santa Clara University , 2015
• United Nation Declaration on Human Rights, 1948
• These rights are also enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1976. This convention forms part of Kenyan Laws vide Article 2(6) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 that provides that international conventions and treaties ratified by Kenya shall form part of Kenyan Laws
• Articles 59, 42 and 43 respectively in The Constitution of Kenya, 2010
• These rights are availed to Kenyans through the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1976.
• Articles 37, 50 and 29 respectively in The Constitution of Kenya, 2010
• Article 21 (1) of the Constitution of Kenya 2010
• Center for Justice, Governance and Environmental Action V Attorney General & 229 Others [2020] eKLR