It has been over two years since the Covid-19 pandemic and students throughout the world have had to adapt to the new way of normal.
While the pandemic is still impacting learning and students all around the world, food insecurity is now a prevalent problem in Kenya more than ever before and the impact on education is severe.
The FAO defines food insecurity as a situation that exists when people lack secure access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development and an active and healthy life.
People need the necessary care and nutritious food to learn as food insecurity can impede knowledge and development in all necessary stages in the educative process: children (0-5 years old), school age (girls and boys 6 – 17 years old), and adulthood (18 years old and above).
The Impact of agriculture on Education and Development
There has also been an adverse development impact that is closely associated with a long period of deforestation and food-import dependence.
As such, children feel less inclined to go to school especially when they are hungry which is often one of the leading motives that affect the level of dropout rates in schools.
The explanation for this is that some parents may require their children to stay at home to help with farming, find food for themselves or the rest of the household, and work to make ends meet.
This is more apparent in Kenya and is an issue that continues to cause a level of poverty and seriously obstructs any kind of sustainable development and educational achievement at any level.
Those who are educated and informed are more likely to get a job and use resources to their advantage.
The educated can do better in life by securing stable access to food in their homes.
Education cannot be fulfilled in an unstable environment that prevents sustainable economic growth and keeps communities food insecure.
Therefore, expanding technological education and market disintegration are vital for the developmental process.
To achieve social justice, food insecurity must be eliminated as it brings stress to families and a sense of desperation.
Food insecurity brings depression into the family dynamic. Parents find it difficult to give their children the best start in life and yield more positive results for a more food-secure country.
Food Insecurity and Poverty
The Kenyan government has a constitutional and civic duty to achieve the Right to Food for all Kenyans as required under Article 43 of the Kenyan Constitution.
Data from a recent World Bank Survey indicates that about 36% of Kenyans live below the poverty line.
Poverty is significant and by this the underprivileged those who lack access to necessary resources to produce or even purchase quality food.
The first international conference for Nutrition that took place in 1992, states acknowledged that poverty and the lack of education, which are often the effects of underdevelopment, are the primary causes of hunger and undernutrition.
The consequence of food insecurity is a concern to Kenya, which it relies on for an ever-growing population
According to UNICEF, children who are living in poverty risk being improvised when they are older and will also have poor children.
In turn, this generates a system of the intergenerational cycle of poverty. With that said, the lack of necessary resources and lack of access to food has had a long and lingering effect that has brought about inequality and social injustice in education.
Education is a key determinant of food insecurity and the need for commitment to understanding how basic education can achieve food security, especially in rural areas is extremely vital.
Impact of Health on Education Attainment and Development
Food insecurity has serious consequences and particularly undermines the education and development of millions of children in Kenya.
In addition, the institute for security studies estimates that around 3.4 million Kenyans are severely food insecure while 309 000 have been internally displaced due to food insecurity.
The very basic need to process information required on food to be consumed and without that children cannot focus on studying.
Several Kenyan organisations such as HIVOC, Peoples United, stress the point that there are at least 22 States Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) that are charged with overseeing our food and at last count, at least over a dozen acts and ordinances that regulate our food system.
Despite this, the food on our table- especially for the low-income urban consumer remains unsafe, and at times dangerous to health.
This reflects the lack of coordination and should be a common understanding amongst all that health will open minds and allow students to think critically while those who are under-undernourished experience poor brain and mental development at school.
In conclusion, once Kenya aligns its national planning frameworks with the expected SDG only then will education and development be recognised.
As both food insecurity and education are limited to one other. Effective programs are needed which has allowed for more of a role for international organizations and private actors to play in the education and development of Kenya.
The FAO highlights that lack of education undermines productivity, employability and earning capacity, leading directly to poverty and hunger.
Thus, if the food situation is insecure and food shortages are apparent, the educational outcomes of learners will suffer which will hinder development as families will not realise how economically beneficial it is to send children to school.
This ultimately becomes a social injustice, when there is a low-level school attendance of children it will extend to later in life to further food insecurity and inequalities.
Dimathalia Rizk, is a London-based writer. She has a degree in politics and international relations as well as a master’s degree in education, health promotion, and international development from UCL.
