Food rights

Inspired by the Netflix documentary Rotten, this issue of Cha Kula by the Route to Food Initiative, highlights the absurdities in our food systems in Kenya, both historically and in the contemporary moment. Cha Kula is a bi-annual publication that gives prominence to food as a political issue in Kenya. It calls into question the power dynamics that dominate our food system, which determines who eats, what they eat and who goes hungry. 

The report “Toxic Business; Highly Hazardous Pesticides in Kenya” presents analyses on actual data of pesticides used in 2020 in Kenya. It shows that immediate action is necessary to protect human health, the environment, and the right to healthy food in Kenya.

The Route to Food Initiative, a program component of the Heinrich Boell Foundation, has launched a special edition of the Chakula Magazine, a graphic novel entitled “The Blind Spot.” The Blind Spot brings to life the ways in which politics plays out in Kenya’s food system in the form of a visually compelling political drama set in a fictional future county called Kajibora. The main protagonist, Sifa, is a passionate young professor from the city who travels back to her hometown of Kajibora after the death of her grandfather, a renowned politician and leader of a famous peasant revolution. Upon her return, Sifa discovers that the post-revolutionary county is being taken over by a multinational industrial agribusiness company.

The Route to Food Initiative (RTFI) sought to assess the current situation in regard to the perception of Kenyans about GMOs. RTFI, contracted a research firm, Infotrak Research and Consulting to undertake the research. Over 8000 respondents from all counties in Kenya were contacted for this survey. Quantitative data was collected through Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI), targeting the Kenyan adult population across all the regions. The data was then systematically analysed. Key issues of focus included level of awareness, willingness to consume and grow GMOs, and access to information on GMOs. These variables were analysed against various demographic aspects of the respondents.

Kenya is a growing market for pesticides. According to the Agrochemical Association of Kenya (AAK), pesticide imports more than doubled between 2015 and 2018. Sales data shows that 76 percent of the total volume of pesticides used in the country contain one or more active ingredients that are categorized as Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs). Pesticides are classified as highly hazardous if they pose serious health risks or irreversible damage to the environment. Their potential to cause cancer, disrupt hormonal and nervous systems, lead to genetic defects or harm unborn children, are among the list of human health concerns being raised by civil society organizations.    

As Kenya enters a new political season, it is critical that all political leaders include the food agenda in their manifestos and explicitly state their proposed solutions to the country's food and nutrition insecurity. The Food Manifesto presents insights gathered from various stakeholders on the state of food insecurity and progress toward achieving the Right to Adequate Food for All in Kenya. This will be a helpful guide for political parties as they draft their manifestos.

It is possible to create sustainable, just and healthy food systems. For this to happen, it is key to strengthen political structures that truly focus on the right to food, on healthy nutrition, and on protecting biodiversity and the climate.