NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenya is facing its worst hunger crisis in a quarter century, with nearly 20 million people — about 36.8 per cent of the population — now undernourished, according to the 2025 Global Hunger Index (GHI) released this week.
The report ranks Kenya 103rd worldwide with a GHI score of 25.9, categorising the country’s hunger situation as “serious.”
It marks a sharp deterioration from a score of 23.1 in 2016 and underscores growing food insecurity driven by drought, high food prices, and economic pressures.
Published jointly by Concern Worldwide, Welthungerhilfe, and the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV), the 2025 GHI paints a grim picture of rising hunger and malnutrition in Kenya, reversing years of steady improvement.
“The climate crisis is no longer episodic; it has become a constant threat. 2024 was the hottest year on record, and extreme weather events are increasingly devastating food systems,” the report warns.
Sharp reversal after years of progress
Between 2000 and 2016, Kenya made major strides in reducing hunger through improved nutrition programmes, healthcare expansion, and agricultural growth.
Child stunting dropped from 38.6 per cent to 17.9 per cent, while child mortality halved.
But that progress is now being undone. The index shows: 36.8% of Kenyans are undernourished, 17.9% of children under five are stunted, 4.5% are wasted, and 4% die before their fifth birthday.
Researchers say food insecurity has deepened particularly among adults, with the proportion of undernourished Kenyans rising by 14.6 percentage points since 2016.
Drought, costs and conflict worsen food access
Six consecutive failed or below-average rainy seasons between 2019 and 2023 have crippled crop and livestock production in arid and semi-arid regions.
In 2024, the situation worsened as global food prices remained high and household incomes fell.
A 2024 survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics found that one in three households in informal settlements had skipped meals or eaten less due to soaring costs.
Similarly, UN data shows the cost of a healthy diet has surged from Sh113.86 in 2017 to Sh189.48 per person per day in 2024 — making nutritious food unaffordable for millions.
Kenya’s border counties, including Turkana, Marsabit and Mandera, are also suffering from disrupted trade and food supply lines due to conflict in neighbouring Somalia, Ethiopia and South Sudan.
The country’s nearly 700,000 refugees and asylum seekers have further strained scarce resources in already food-insecure communities.
Hunger crisis uneven across regions
The GHI report notes that hunger is not evenly distributed. Arid and semi-arid counties — home to about 30 per cent of Kenyans — account for nearly 70 per cent of those facing food insecurity.
Counties such as Turkana, Wajir, Garissa, Kitui, and Makueni are among the hardest hit, largely due to their reliance on rain-fed agriculture and poor market access.
Even agriculturally rich regions like Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu are struggling as farmers face high input costs and low returns.
Across Sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya joins ten countries recording rising hunger levels since 2016 — among them the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Madagascar, Liberia, and Zambia.
Funding cuts, inequality deepen crisis
The report also warns that global funding for food and nutrition has declined even as hunger levels rise.
It calls for urgent international action to strengthen climate resilience, boost agricultural productivity and make healthy diets affordable.
At home, widening poverty and inequality continue to aggravate the crisis.
Although poverty rates have fallen slightly since 2020, more than 68 per cent of Kenyans living in poverty are in rural areas that bore the brunt of the worst drought in four decades.
In Nairobi, nearly a third of informal settlement residents still live below the poverty line.
Global call to action
The 2025 GHI assessed 136 countries, ranking 123 due to data availability.
The findings signal a growing threat to Kenya’s food security gains and call for immediate interventions to avert a worsening humanitarian crisis.
“Without urgent reforms to strengthen resilience and nutrition systems, Africa could become the global hunger epicentre by 2030,” the report cautions.
