Country report:

Kenya
Global Food Security Index 2022

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Coutry report Global Food Security Index 2022

About the Global Food Security Index 2022

The Global Food Security Index (GFSI), developed by Economist

Impact and supported by Corteva Agriscience, considers food
affordability, availability, quality and safety, and sustainability and
adaptation across 113 countries. The index is a dynamic quantitative
and qualitative benchmarking model constructed from 68 unique
indicators that measure the drivers of food security across both
developing and developed countries.
This edition of the GFSI incorporates 14 new indicators to reflect
the global nature and interconnectedness of the food system and
to highlight the importance of “first mile” and farm-level metrics in
determining food security for populations.
This year, the Economist Impact team has adjusted the “Availability”
category to start at food production, capturing more farmer-focused
measures on access to agricultural inputs. This includes moving
access to finance and financial products from the affordability
pillar to the availability pillar, as these measures are farmer-related.
Government commitment to innovative technologies and a new
composite indicator for on-farm infrastructure have been added to
this category to more accurately reflect what is happening on the
fields as well as further along the supply chain.
Reflecting a global impetus to move to sustainable food systems
and adapt to growing climate shocks, the GFSI’s fourth category,
previously called “Natural resources and resilience,” has been
renamed “Sustainability and adaptation.”
This report is based on research conducted by Economist Impact
between April and July 2022. Economist Impact bears sole
responsibility for the content of this report. The findings and views
expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the partners
and experts.
The GFSI 2022 model, the model user guide, the global research
report and all 32 country reports are available online at
economistimpact.com/food-security-index. Please visit the website
for more information on the global rankings, key findings and the
2022 methodology.

© The Economist Impact 2022

Coutry report Global Food Security Index 2022

Kenya
Sub-Saharan Africa—regional snapshot

Sub-Saharan Africa scores an average of 47 points on its overall food Global Food Security Index 2022: Average scores for
security environment in the 2022 GFSI, making it the least food- Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
secure region globally. Out of the four pillars of the index, the region 50.3
47.0 46.4 47.5
performs best in the Quality and Safety pillar (50.3) and weakest in 44.8

the Affordability pillar (44.8). Concerns surrounding affordable food

are paramount for the region: a high percentage of the population is
under the global poverty line and food safety-net programmes are
lacking. Although scores in the Quality and Safety pillar are relatively FOOD SECURITY AFFORDABILITY AVAILABILITY QUALITY AND SAFETY SUSTAINABILITY
ENVIRONMENT AND ADAPTATION
high compared to those for other pillars, a lack of relevant food safety
Source: Global Food Security Index 2022.
legislation and access to drinking water in countries within the region
present food safety challenges, suggesting that food security in the
region needs to be improved across all four pillars.

Kenya—food security overview

Kenya ranks 82nd out of 113 countries in the index and 2nd out of Global Food Security Index 2022: Scores for Kenya
the 28 Sub-Saharan African countries, with an overall food security
68.8
environment score of 53. Overall, Kenya’s performance leaves room
for improvement across most pillars. Its strongest performance is in 53.0 52.5 52.6

ensuring good quality and safe food in the country—it scores 68.8 in 41.7

the Quality and Safety pillar. This relatively good score is driven by a
robust national plan on nutrition, high protein quality, and nutritional
monitoring and surveillance. On the other hand, affordability of food FOOD SECURITY AFFORDABILITY AVAILABILITY QUALITY AND SAFETY SUSTAINABILITY
ENVIRONMENT AND ADAPTATION
remains a challenge, as shown by the country achieving its weakest
Source: Global Food Security Index 2022.
score in the Affordability pillar (41.7). Gaps remain in improving the
coverage, operation and funding of safety-net programmes.

The four pillars for food security—analysis for 2022:

• Affordability: Kenya performs the weakest in this pillar with a
global rank of 101, while it ranks 18th in the region.
— This performance can be attributed to “very weak” (0-39.9)
scores in indicators 1.2) Proportion of population under global
poverty line, 1.3) Inequality-adjusted income index and 1.5) Food
safety-net programmes.
• Availability: Kenya ranks 79th globally and 5th in the region for
Availability.
— It falls in the “moderate” score bracket (55-69.9) for 2.1) Access
to agricultural inputs, 2.4) Volatility of agricultural production
and 2.7) Sufficiency of supply.
• Quality and safety: Quality and Safety is Kenya’s best-performing
pillar. It ranks 58th globally and 1st in the region.
— The best performance within this pillar is on indicator 3.4)
Protein quality, for which it reaches the “very good” score
bracket (80+).
• Sustainability and adaptation: Kenya ranks 66th in the overall
index and 10th in the region in this pillar.
— It performs well in 4.5) Political commitment to adaptation,
achieving a “good” score (70-79.9)”, and scores in the “moderate”
bracket in 4.1) Exposure.

© The Economist Impact 2022

Coutry report Global Food Security Index 2022

Snapshot: Kenya 2012-22 food security environment

The overall food security score for Kenya has improved by 10 points
since 2012. This is due to an increase in scores across all pillars.
However, the overall score remains “weak”.
The biggest increase in scores has taken place in Quality and Safety,
moving the country into the “moderate” score bracket. This can be
attributed to its performance in indicators 3.4) Protein quality and 3.5)
Food safety, scores for which have increased by 50.8 points and 28.3
points respectively.
Although Kenya’s weakest pillar, Affordability, has seen an increase
of 12.7 points since 2012 owing to a significant rise in 1.1) Change
in average food costs (+55.5). However, a large proportion of the
population that is living under the global poverty line continues to be
unable to afford food in the light of a lack of well-functioning safety-
net programmes. The Availability and Sustainability and Adaptation
pillars have seen slight score increases driven by improved access
to agricultural inputs and enhanced political commitment to
adaptation. Protection of marine biodiversity and controlling
volatility in agricultural production will further enhance the country’s
food security environment.

Kenya
The diagram below shows country performance in 2022 (latest available data). Scores are normalized 0-100, where 100=best conditions.
Δ = change in score, 2022 compared with 2012. ↑ = Score improved ↓= Score deteriorated - = no change in score
Score Δ
↑
FOOD SECURITY ENVIRONMENT 53.0
+10.0

Score Δ Score Δ Score Δ Score Δ

↑ ↑ 3 QUALITY AND ↑ 4 SUSTAINABILITY ↑

1 AFFORDABILITY 41.7 2 AVAILABILITY 52.5 68.8 52.6
+12.7 +1.7 SAFETY +21.0 AND ADAPTATION +4.5

1.1 Change in average ↑ 2.1 Access to agricultural ↑ ↓ 4.1 Exposure 62.2 ←→

55.5 63.0 3.1 Dietary diversity 44.0
food costs +55.5 inputs +21.2 -4.2
1.2 Proportion of 2.2 Agricultural research ↑ 3.2 Nutritional ↑ 4.2 Water 38.8 ←→
↑ 46.2 68.5
population under 32.5 & development +5.4 standards +11.4
+3.2 ↑
global poverty line 4.3 Land 53.0
↑ 3.3 Micronutrient ↑ +0.7
2.3 Farm infrastructure 54.7 67.3
1.3 Inequality-adjusted ↑ +13.9 availability +18.1
37.9 4.4 Oceans, rivers and ↓
income index +0.2 32.5
2.4 Volatility of ↑ lakes -1.3
↓ 3.4 Protein quality 97.0
↓ agricultural 61.2 +50.8
1.4 Agricultural trade 53.0 -27.2 4.5 Political commitment ↑
-6.5 production 71.7
↑ to adaptation +24.2
1.5 Food safety net ↑ 3.5 Food safety 66.4
26.8 ←→ 2.5 Food loss 71.2 +28.3
programmes +1.6 4.6 Disaster risk
52.9 ←→
management
2.6 Supply chain ↑
23.4
infrastructure +4.3
↑
2.7 Sufficiency of supply 58.0
+0.9
2.8 Political and social ↓
    
38.6 Very good Good Moderate Weak Very weak
barriers to access -2.5 (80–100) (70–79.9) (55–69.9) (40–54.9) (0–39.9)
2.9 Food security Source: Global Food Security Index 2022.
and access policy 52.5 ←→
commitments

Strengths and opportunities for action

Improvements across pillars showcase progress made by Kenya in its food security environment. It has successfully enabled a safer and higher-quality food system with
low levels of food loss. It also displays strong political commitments towards adaptation. Gaps remain in making food affordable, as well as available, to consumers.
Improvements in the operation and coverage of safety-net programmes, and the provision of adequate funding, are needed. Targeting structural issues in supply-chain
infrastructure, as well as high levels of corruption that plague the food system, are critical.

Strengths Areas for improvement

3.4) Protein quality: In this indicator Kenya ranks 25th in the index with an
exceptional score of 97. This is a 49.3-point improvement since last year, when
it only scored 47.7. The country has seen steady improvement on this indicator
in the past 11 years, rising from 46.2 points in 2012.
4.5) Political commitment to adaptation: Kenya scores 71.7 points and ranks
28th globally. This can be attributed to its perfect score of 100 in sub-indicators
4.5.2) Environment–economic accounting implementation and 4.5.5) National
agricultural adaptation policy. This indicator has grown steadily over the past 11
years, rising from 47.5 points in 2012.
2.5) Food loss: In this indicator, Kenya ranks 77th with a score of 71.2 points,
the same as last year. Kenya’s highest score on this indicator was 72.5 in 2017
and the lowest was the 69.6 points awarded in 2012, 2013 and 2016.
2.6) Supply-chain infrastructure: This is Kenya’s lowest score across all
indicators—the 23.4 points awarded place the country in 96th place globally. The
poor performance can be attributed to sub-indicators 2.6.2) Road infrastructure
and 2.6.3) Rail, port and air infrastructure, for which the country scores 0 and 25
respectively.
1.5) Food safety-net programmes: Kenya ranks joint 85th overall with a score
26.8. This is due to the country scoring 0 points in sub-indicators 1.5.2) Funding
for food safety-net programmes, 1.5.3) Coverage of food safety-net programmes
and 1.5.4) Operation of food safety-net programmes. The current year and
2012’s scores are the lowest that Kenya has scored in this indicator across the 11
reporting years of the GFSI.
2.8) Political and social barriers to access: Kenya scores 38.6 points and ranks
92nd in this indicator. In sub-indicator 2.8.3) Corruption Kenya has consistently
scored 0 since 2012.

© The Economist Impact 2022