The number of Kenyans unable to afford a healthy diet has increased by 9.6 million over the past eight years on costly meals and reduced disposable income.
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a United Nations agency, says 43.9 million Kenyans cannot afford a healthy diet, up from 34.3 million in 2017.
This emerges in a period when the cost of food has surged in an economic setting where workers' disposable income has also fallen, as employers' pay increases fail to keep pace with inflation.
FAO says the cost of a healthy diet has increased from $2.56 per person in a day to $4.5 over the eight years.
Workers' purchasing power has declined by up to 12 percent over the past five years, on the back of rising taxes, multiple statutory deductions, and the high cost of living, according to Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) estimates.
The statutory deductions cited by KBA include PAYE, the 1.5 percent Affordable Housing Levy, a 2.75 percent contribution to the Social Health Insurance Fund and higher National Social Security Fund contributions, which now top Sh6,480 per month for higher earners.
Workers have seen their real wages drop to Sh56,566 last year from Sh62,256 in 2020.
The share of Kenyans struggling to access a healthy diet has increased to 76.3 percent of the population from 69.8 percent in 2017.
In East Africa, Kenya fared worse compared to the neighbouring countries. Rwanda’s share stood at 67.7 percent, Ethiopia (67.9 percent), Tanzania (73.0 percent) and Uganda (73.6 percent).
“Eating a healthy diet throughout the life cycle is critical for health, growth and development, helping to prevent all forms of malnutrition and reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases, and above all, contributing to overall well-being,” says FAO in the report.
FAO says the less developing countries will require policies that focus not only on increasing food production but also on making nutritious foods more affordable.
Investments in climate-smart agriculture, efficient food distribution systems, lower post-harvest losses and targeted support for vulnerable households will be critical if Kenya is to reverse the trend.
