Journal of Contemporary Social Sciences and Education. Vol.2, No 1, P.15-22.
Published on: 5th March 2021
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ABSTRACT
Globally, food is the most basic of all human needs. However, FAO fears that global progress in reducing hunger has slowed and leveled off. In Africa, causes of food insecurity and malnutrition are multi-factorial and interlinked. World health organization asserts that the global food price crisis threatens public health and jeopardizes the health of the most disadvantaged groups. Over 80 per cent of the households in the county depend on rain fed agriculture and related activities to achieve food security. Only about 60% of the Kenyan population can be said to be currently food secure. Embu West Sub County has experienced a fall in food production which is a risk of hunger and malnutrition. Therefore, the study was interested in investigating how the socio-cultural factors affect food security and nutrition in Embu West Sub County. This will inform policy formulation in Embu County and Kenya as a whole. The study used a qualitative research design. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the study subjects. Interview schedules were used to collect data. The study found that Khat chewing, alcohol uptake, and FGM had a negative impact on food security and nutrition. The study recommends awareness creation on effects of chewing Khat, alcohol uptake and FGM in Embu West Sub County.
Key words: social, cultural, food security, nutrition, Embu
1.0 Introduction
Globally, food is the most basic of all human needs. The global community often uses the term “food security” to describe a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO, 2002). Nutrition is the study of food and how it affects the body. A study carried out by FAO indicates that with almost 1 billion people chronically undernourished between 2015–2017, the number of hungry people in the world remains unacceptably high. The vast majority live in developing countries, where about 15 percent of the population is estimated to be undernourished (FAO, 2018).
In Africa, causes of food insecurity and malnutrition are multi-factorial and interlinked. Poverty and food shortage are the main catalysts of food insecurity in Africa. Despite the fairly good economic growth rate in Sub-Saharan Africa over the past two decades, there is historical evidence that this has not been converted into poverty reduction as effectively as in other developing regions of the world (Olayemi & McIntyre, 2016).
About half of the Kenyan population falls below the poverty line. Some of these are residents in relatively well-endowed counties and urban areas. Among these are those living in extreme poverty. Chronically food insecure people suffer from extreme poverty and are largely left to their own devices with no access to some of the safety net provisions available to those suffering from acute food shortages in drought and flood prone areas (Haile, 2005).
Only about 60% of the Kenyan population can be said to be currently food secure. According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2019), about 10 million of an estimated 46 million people in Kenya suffers from chronic food insecurity, based on dietary energy supply. Food insecurity and malnutrition are closely linked to poverty. Kenya Strategic Food Reserve (2018) increased the projected number of people requiring emergency food assistance between September 2016 and February 2017 to 6.8 million individuals.
Despite the efforts and initiatives by the National and County Governments to attain food security and nutrition, much has not been achieved in Embu and more particularly in Embu West Sub County. One of the objectives of this study therefore, was to investigate the effects of socio-cultural factors on food security and nutrition in Embu West Sub County, Embu County.
2.0 Methodology
The study used a qualitative research design and purposive sampling technique. The study location was Embu West Sub County which is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of four constituencies of Embu County. It has a population of 154,632 people based on the Kenya Population and Housing Census with a density of 575 KM2 (KNBS, 2019). Temperature ranges from a minimum of 12 °C to a maximum of 27.0 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1495mm.
The study purposively selected four key informants situated in Embu West Sub County. That is the Assistant County Commissioner, Sub County Agricultural Officer, Public Health Officer at Embu level 5 Hospital and the Assistant Director KALRO (Kenya Agricultural and Livestock and Research Organization). This was due to the fact that they would be in a position to address the issues raised on the effects of socio-cultural factors on food security and nutrition in Embu West Sub County. One research instrument was used, namely an interview schedule. Qualitative data was analyzed using text method. The data was then interpreted, viable conclusions drawn and recommendations made based on the conclusions arrived at.
3.0 Results and Discussion
This study found that the following social practices in Embu West Sub County: chewing of khat, alcohol taking, religious settings such as Christianity, Islam and Hindu, membership to welfare groups and merry go rounds as indicated in table 3.1. These findings are in agreement with those of Mutumi (2013) who found that drugs such as khat and alcohol were in use in Embu County. Cultural practices included religious activities, female genital mutilation (FGM) and boys’ circumcision.
This study went ahead to investigate the effect of the social and cultural practices and its effect on food security and nutrition. The study found the following negative effects:
i. Some farmers had stopped growing food crops and were now concentrating on khat growing as a cash crop as shown in table 3.2.
ii. Youths who took up alcohol were unproductive and did not attend to their farming activities.
iii. Most of the resources obtained by men were used to purchase drugs such as khat and alcohol.
iv. Single young mothers were on the increase due to women empowerment while men were becoming endangered.
v. There was also a rise in poor nutrition status and oral health issues due to use of khat.
vi. Children learned how to chew khat early as they were employed in the khat farms for some payment.
Some positive effect of the socio-cultural practices at Embu West Sub County was that people were coming together in groups and Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the government were willing to help the groups and share ideas when together. This in turn leads to an increase in productivity and nutrition. These finding are similar to those of Njeru (2016) who found that socio-cultural practices affected agricultural practices in Embu County.
This study found out that there were no foods that were a taboo in Embu West Sub County. The most commonly consumed food was maize, beans and vegetables as indicated in table 3.3. This is in agreement with the finding of Embu County Agriculture report (2019) which identified the same types of foods grown in the constituency.
All the respondents except one indicated to there being a food program that creates awareness on food safety and nutrition in Embu West Sub County (table 3.4.). The food programs were run by collaborators, stakeholders and partners who fund the agricultural activities. There were also seed companies which come to train farmers on good agricultural practices and hold demonstrations for their products. Example of partners: Africa Christian Church & Schools (ACC&S), Solidaridad, One acre fund, Kenya seed, agrochemical companies, Simlaw seeds, East Africa seed company, KALRO, The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Caritas (Catholic Organization) etc. In the hospital set up it was identified that there was health education and nutrition trainings. There was also the school feeding programmes in Early Childhood Educations (ECDs). The PHO also noted that the nutritional status of Embu County was 29% at that time. This is in agreement to a study by Githuku (2015) who identified feeding programs and their impact on food security and nutrition.
Conclusion
This study sought to find out the effect of socio-cultural factors on food security and nutrition in Embu West Sub County. This study found that socio-cultural activities such as khat chewing, alcohol use, initiation and FGM had negative impact on food security and nutrition, while welfare groups and religious activities had a positive impact on food security and nutrition in Embu West Sub County.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study, the recommendations are:
1. Awareness creation on effects of chewing Khat, alcohol uptake and FGM
2. Standardize prices and marketing of farm products to prevent farmers from replacing food crops to khat
References
Embu County Agriculture Report (2019). Embu County focuses on Agriculture. https://www.embu.go.ke/embu-county-focuses-on-agriculture/Acknowledgement
We wish to thank our colleagues in Senior Management Course (SMC/121/2020) from Kenya School of Government (KSG) Embu Campus who provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted in this research. We thank our supervisor Mr Laban Musundi (KSG-Embu) for assistance and guiding us through the whole project. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the Area Administration, Sub-County Agricultural Officer, Assistant Director KALRO and the Public Health department at Embu Level 5 Hospital. This also goes to our lecturers from KSG Embu for sharing their pearl of wisdom with us during the course of this research. We wish to thank our various Government Ministries, Counties, Agencies and Departments for funding the Senior Management Course.
Financial support
There was no financial support for this article.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
Ethical approval
This study does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. Research authorization was sought from the director Kenya School of Government.
Citation
Aricha, Stephen, A, Githinji, Gerald, G., Owaga, Paul. O, Okello, Julias, T., Ouma, Harrison, O., Njongoro, Joyce, W., Tobosei, Phylis, J., Kungu, Samuel, N., Oronje, Samuel, L., Anyanga, Edwin, N., & Musundi, Laban. (2021). Socio-Cultural Factors Affecting Food Security and Nutrition in Kenya: A Case of Embu West Sub County, Embu County. Journal of Contemporary Social Science and Education, 2(1), 15–22. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7337893.
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