The Murang’a government has developed a multisectoral policy that will enhance food and nutrition security and stem the high prevalence of malnutrition in the county.
The Murang’a county multisectoral food and nutrition security policy aims to foster cooperation and coordination among various sectors to ensure every resident accesses good quality and diverse food.
The county grapples with the burden of malnutrition, which is manifested through undernutrition, micro-nutrient deficiencies and over-nutrition, including diet-related noncommunicable diseases.
“Inadequate dietary diversity and food shortages have given rise to noncommunicable diseases and even cancer,” county nutrition coordinator Nancy Mwangi said.
She said the multisectorial policy will help put focus on all the determinants of malnutrition and boost the nutrition status in the county.
The Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) 2022 indicated that the county had reduced its stunting rate from 19.6 per cent in 2014 to 10 per cent.
About 6 per cent of residents were underweight and 2 per cent exhibited wasting.
The prevalence of overweight children under five years was 3 per cent while under-nutrition among adolescent boys aged between 15 to 19 years was at 43 per cent and 12 per cent among girls.
About 27 per cent of women aged between 20 to 49 years are either overweight or obese, while 17 per cent of men are thin.
The policy was formulated by the county administration in partnership with the Nutrition International organisation. It brings together all nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive sectors to create a harmonised approach to achieve food and nutrition security.
Some of the sectors roped in include health, agriculture, water, irrigation, environment, trade, education, gender, trade and social services.
“Malnutrition, which is largely brought about by poverty and unemployment, is the single largest contributor of maternal and child mortality,” Mwangi said, underscoring the need for concerted efforts to combat it.
MoH nutrition division head Veronica Kirogo said malnutrition is a serious issue. It costs the state about Sh374 million in treatment of malnutrition-related diseases annually