Review of Food Security as a Social Justice measure in Kenya

ABSTRACT The primary purpose of a government is to protect its citizens. This protection takes various forms, depending on the enemy at hand. Food insecurity is an enemy of man that every sovereign nation ought to protect its... [ view full abstract ]

ABSTRACT
The primary purpose of a government is to protect its citizens. This protection takes various forms, depending on the enemy at hand. Food insecurity is an enemy of man that every sovereign nation ought to protect its citizens from. Food insecurity is a factor in poverty, one of the three ills (the other two being ignorance and disease) that Kenya committed itself to getting rid of at the time of political independence in 1963. Bill of Rights of Kenya’s constitution promulgated in 2010, commits itself to preserve the dignity of individuals and communities and to promote social justice and the realization of the potential of all human beings. Food security is not just about filling the stomachs of a hungry majority with good food; it is also about upholding the dignity of those people. The World Health Organization defines food security as existing “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life”. This paper assesses the policies and other efforts put in place by the Kenya government, the initiatives by Non-Governmental Organizations that have positively contributed to the vice, and the efforts made by affected individuals and communities themselves to deal with food insecurity in the last fifty years. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to gauge the extent to which Kenya in the last fifty years of political independence has reached in dealing with food security: specifically the progress made, challenges incurred and what remains to be done. By so doing, this paper will cultivate deeper insight and generate better clarity into the issues of food security as an aspect of social protection which in essence is justice and the role of policy and governance in food insecurity alleviation.
Keywords: Social Protection, Food insecurity, Non-Governmental Organisations