MY FOOD, MY SECURITY, MY IDENTITY.

Food security and nutrition are crucial for various reasons. They guarantee human health, economic development, poverty reduction, social stability, environmental sustainability, resilience, and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Ultimately, they are crucial for development and align with global goals like ending poverty and hunger, promoting good health, and ensuring responsible consumption and production.

 As I walk to my home in Kibra after a busy day, thoughts of what I will prepare for dinner occupy my thoughts. I place a great deal of importance on meal preparation. Kibra is an urban informal setting in Nairobi. Here, residents’ daily food purchases are dictated by household incomes. The poor rarely afford meat and fish, so their diet includes affordable cereals and vegetables.

Is this to say that I cannot afford to eat a varied diet because I live in Kibra? How does living here affect the nutritional value of my meals? We cannot ignore the significance of a healthy diet. It is little wonder that food and nutrition security are paramount to human existence. Today, these subjects feature significantly among the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs). SDG 2 seeks to “end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.”

 Africa’s hunger statistics are shocking. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) states; “226.7 million people starve in Africa.” Countries most affected by extreme poverty and hunger in Africa are located south of the Sahara. One in four people suffer from hunger, meaning the world’s hungriest are highest in sub-Saharan Africa.

With this in mind, I contemplated my own food experience and how it relates to SDG 2. I wondered where my food comes from, the journey it makes, and the farmers who grow it. Do I meet the recommended dietary requirements? The more I pondered these, the more I thought about the woman who brings fresh produce to my doorstep.

 As a single woman with a crazy work schedule, I get my food supplies from local vendors despite a market nearby. It is not only convenient but also of substantial value. When I buy collard greens from Mama Mboga (greengrocery business owner), she chops them up and once home all I have to do is wash and cook them. I also buy pre-cooked foods such as beans, meaning I only warm or fry them to my liking and my meal is ready. This saves me time and I am assured of always having a meal regardless of my return time.

Rising Living Costs

My typical meal is made up of ugali – a stiff dough made from maize flour – a protein (beef, beans or fish), vegetables and/or fruits. Sometimes I spend KSHs. 281 (about US$2) to buy fresh produce. Today, like so many other Kenyans, I am grappling with food price increases.

This leads me to ask Brenda Wairimu, my local Mama Mboga for three years, where she gets her produce. She tells me about Othaya, the local market she frequents in Kibra.

Other times, she reveals, she travels straight to farmers on the outskirts of Nairobi, where she is assured of the highest quality products. “Vegetables and fruits are freshly picked, and the prices are fair compared to the local market,” she explains. I ask if I can accompany her on one such visit, and she agrees. “Utaweza kuamka?” (Will you wake up?) Wairimu teases as she gives me an appointment for 5:00 am the next morning at the M-Pesa kiosk.

 It is cold and drizzling when we meet. I notice most of those heading the same way are women. To initiate conversation, I ask her how long she has been in the business.

“I started selling vegetables when my husband died 6 years ago. Every day I wake up at 4:45 am, get ready, wake my daughter up and prepare her for school before heading to the market. On Sunday I usually rest. If you are lazy, you cannot do this kind of work. If you oversleep and get to the market late, you will find leftovers,” she says. At the market, we move from one seller to another buying kale, spinach, onions, and tomatoes.

We are done by 8:00 am. With a sack full of vegetables, I look around and recall her words about finding very little if you get to the market late. She tells me that by 9:30 am the market will look like an abandoned field. As we head back to Kibra, I acknowledge that this job is not for the faint-hearted.

Wairimu is just one part of my food chain. Once back in Kibra, I meet Syombua Nyakio, the fishmonger from whom I get omena (silver cyprinid). She gets her fish from the market, not from the lake. “Brokers and business cartels control the business on the shores and sometimes one has to pay extra for fish,” she explains. Additionally, she cannot afford to transport fresh fish from there.

Proper Meal Intake

There is more to what I eat so I seek out Jacklyne Opal, a nutritionist, to find out whether my diet is correct. Amidst laughter, she describes my eating habits as “fascinating” when she hears that I skip breakfast, nibble on biscuits at midday and have a feast for supper. She finds my fruit intake twice or thrice a week lacking.

“You are supposed to eat breakfast like a king, lunch as a queen and dinner as a pauper,” she explains. She informs me that I am not the only one who does this. “After supper, you head straight to bed but in the morning you have a full schedule of activities. Why do you starve when you need food and feast when it is imperative to have a low intake of nutrients?” she asks.

She reiterates that food provides nutrients and energy. “While you are forced to compromise on diet needs because of the high rising living costs; you must maintain a balanced diet as it is important.”

As I leave, I reflect on it and relate it to what happens in the real world. In dealing with high living costs, we eat what is affordable and ignore dietary needs and safety.

How do we ensure food and nutrition security in Africa? Will the day come when no African sleeps hungry, and no African child dies of malnutrition?

As Opal said, “There is a need to ensure our meals are balanced so we can benefit from all food classes. Food is not just an enabler; it is a necessity.”