Kenya’s Ineffective Response to Climate Change-related Food Insecurity

• Roselyne Omondi

  Horn Institute

  Author

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is unfolding amid Kenya’s year-long national disaster—chiefly because of the series of five consecutive failed rainy seasons—but also as a factor of other long-standing, interrelated issues such as protracted conflicts, migration, environmental degradation, and deficits in governance. As these issues hamper mass food production, lead to loss of livestock and crops, and disrupt livelihoods unfavorably, Kenya’s food system has become increasingly unstable, and food is unavailable, inaccessible, and/or misutilized. About 19.5 million individuals in Kenya’s agriculture-oriented economy are 
reportedly starving, hungry, and/or malnourished. Using mixed methods, this paper interrogates Kenya’s response to climate change-related food insecurity to determine how and the extent to which it undermines national security. The paper observes that Kenya’s attempts at reducing climate change-related food insecurity are yet to reduce the rising number of acutely food-insecure individuals in the country. Their exploitation by state and non-state actors cannot be ruled out. The paper thus advances that the bourgeoning mass of acutely food-insecure individuals is a growing but overlooked threat to national security. Its main preliminary finding is that Kenya has several robust strategies and plans to, inter alia, manage drought and achieve climate smart agriculture. These efforts are yet to break the recurring drought-flooding cycle, adjust the country’s security expenditure, and change her reactive response to climate-related food insecurity and are, to this extent, ineffective. It also finds indications that the main concerns of the government and citizens are misaligned. Ditto the security expenditure vis-à-vis the country’s rising human security needs. The paper recommends the proactive centering of climate change mitigation in the country’s national security framework. This will help Kenya secure her people and territory better and maintain her geostrategic appeal. 

1. Roselyne Omondi, Horn Institute

   Roselyne Omondi is a conflict and peace professional and knowledge content creator. She is an excellent writer-researcher-editor with broad humanities and social sciences backgrounds. Roselyne works at the intersection of research and policy; communication, journalism, and media; international development; and humanitarian action—typically with interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and multicultural teams. She has a good grasp of current affairs and a global outlook. Her research interests 
   and expertise span but are not limited to armed conflict, forced migration, food insecurity, pastoralism, terrorism, geopolitics, conflict mapping, media analysis, strategic crisis communication, climate change, and development. Different international organizations, publishers, and local, regional, and international media establishments have featured her work. Roselyne holds Erasmus Mundus Master of Art degree in Journalism, Media, and Globalization—War and Conflict Specialization (Denmark and 
   United Kingdom); an Erasmus Mundus Master of Arts degree in International Humanitarian Action—Comprehensive Security Specialization (the Netherlands); a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and English Language (Kenya); and several other postgraduate qualifications in Peace and Conflict Research (University of Oslo and PRIO, Norway) and Advanced Grammar (United Kingdom), among others. Roselyne is the Associate Director of the Center for Climate Change, Migration, and Development at the HORN Institute. 

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