Kajiado County 2020 Short Rains Food and Nutrition Security Assessment Report
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KAJIADO COUNTY 2020 SHORT RAINS FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY ASSESSMENT REPORT February 2021 A Joint Report by Kenya Food Security Steering Group (KFSSG) and Kajiado County Steering Group (CSG) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The 2020 Short Rains food security assessment was carried out by the county technical team with technical support from the Kenya Food Security Steering Group (KFSSG). The overall objective of the assessment was to objectively and with evidence provide food security situation in the county in a transparent manner following the 2020 Short Rains taking into account the cumulative effect of the previous seasons. The assessment provides recommendations for possible response options based on the situation analysis upon building consensus. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used during assessment including review of the existing data provided through checklists or otherwise and triangulating with field observations as well as both community and key informants interviews. Depressed rainfall was the key driver of food security in the county which resulted in below normal regeneration of pasture, recharge of water sources and crops yields. The COVID-19 epidemic negatively affected patterns of food supply and access as well as health- seeking behaviour in the county. Livestock diseases were also an important food security driver in the county. Since May 2020, livestock prices were sustained above the Long Term Average due to the reduced supply to the markets. Following the off-season rains in early January 2021, domestic water consumption has now normalized. Nutrition status of under-fives was better for the entire year as evidenced by the below long term average risk of malnutrition of 6.8 percent. Pastoral Livelihood zones strained more compared to Agro Pastoral livelihood zones to get food which is evidenced by former having a higher coping strategy index than the latter. Reported cases of diarrhoea between the July and December period reduced in 2020 compared to a similar period in 2019 for both under-fives and for the general population. The reduction in diarrhoea cases was as a result of the increased uptake of WASH practices as one of the COVID-19 pandemic control measures. On the other hand, the number of the fully immunized in July – December 2020 stood at 73.3 percent compared to 87 percent over the same period in 2019. Vitamin A coverage for 12- 59 months decreased by 27.5 percent in July-December 2020 when compared to the same period in 2019. COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected health service delivery as well as the uptake of the available services. About 500 cases of early teenage pregnancies were reported in the county since the schools closed due to COVID-19. The county was classified under the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification’s Stressed Phase (IPC Phase 2) and is projected to remain so for the next three months. i Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................. i 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 2 1.1 County Background.......................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Methodology and Approach ............................................................................................. 2 2.0 DRIVERS OF FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY IN THE COUNTY ...................... 3 2.1 Rainfall Performances ...................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Insecurity/Conflict ............................................................................................................ 3 2.3 COVID-19 ........................................................................................................................ 3 2.4 Other Shocks and Hazards ............................................................................................... 3 3.0 IMPACTS OF DRIVERS ON FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY ............................ 4 3.1 Availability ....................................................................................................................... 4 3.1.1 Crop Production ........................................................................................................ 4 3.1.2 Cereals Stock ............................................................................................................ 5 3.1.3 Livestock Production ...................................................................................................... 6 3.2 Access ................................................................................................................................ 10 3.2.1 Markets .................................................................................................................. 10 3.2.2 Terms of Trade (ToT) ............................................................................................. 12 3.2.3 Income Sources ....................................................................................................... 12 3.2.4 Water Availability and Access................................................................................ 12 3.2.5 Food Consumption .................................................................................................. 14 3.2.6 Coping Strategy (CSI)............................................................................................. 15 3.3 Utilization ....................................................................................................................... 15 3.3.1 Morbidity and mortality patterns ............................................................................ 15 3.3.2 Immunization and Vitamin A supplementation ...................................................... 16 3.3.3 Nutritional status and dietary diversity ................................................................... 16 3.3.4 Health and Nutrition Sector in COVID-19 Context ............................................... 17 3.3.5 Public interventions, risk communication and community-level actions ............... 17 3.3.6 Coordination and Leadership in COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness and Response 17 3.3.7 Sanitation and Hygiene .......................................................................................... 17 3.5 Education ............................................................................................................................ 18 3.5.1 Enrolment ..................................................................................................................... 18 3.5.2 Effects of COVID -19 on Schools .......................................................................... 19 3.5.3 Effects of Short Rains on Schools .......................................................................... 20 3.5.4 School Feeding Programme .................................................................................... 20 3.5.5 Inter-Sectoral Links ................................................................................................ 20 4.0 FOOD SECURITY PROGNOSIS .......................................................................................... 21 4.1 Prognosis Assumptions .................................................................................................. 21 4.2 Food security Outlook .................................................................................................... 21 5.0 Conclusion and Interventions ................................................................................................. 22 5.1 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 22 5.1.1 Phase Classification ...................................................................................................... 22 5.1.2 Summary of the Findings ............................................................................................. 22 5.2 Ongoing Interventions ......................................................................................................... 24 5.3 Recommended Interventions ........................................................................................... 27 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 County Background Kajiado County covers nearly 21,900 km2 and has a population of 1,117840 according to the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census (KNBS, 2019). The county is divided into five sub- counties namely; Kajiado North, Kajiado West, Kajiado East and Kajiado Central and Kajiado South. The livelihood zones and their proportions are shown in Figure 1. Pastoralism is the dominant (52 percent) livelihood especially for the Formal local community and is practised in all Employment the sub-counties. Other forms of 31% livelihoods in the county include Pastoral 52% formal employment (31 percent), Agro-pastoral (12 percent) and Mixed Agro- pastoral Mixed Farming (five percent) especially in 12% Farming 5% Kajiado South and Kajiado North Sub-counties. Pastoral households Figure 1: percent of households by livelihoods mainly depend on the sale of livestock and livestock products such as milk to get their income while households in Mixed Farming earn their income through the sale of foodstuffs and livestock products. Casual labour is also emerging as a source of income for some households especially in urban areas and where irrigated agriculture is practised. 1.2 Methodology