Kenya needs better social protection programmes during Covid-19
While scrolling through Twitter, it is likely that you will come across a post appealing for food aid. As Kenya recorded its 197th confirmed Covid-19 case in early April, many enterprises had reduced their operations, or closed down, causing massive losses in livelihoods.
The economic impact has, in turn, increased the prevalence of food-insecure households. Although Kenya has set up a Covid-19 Emergency Fund, it does not currently support provision of food for the most vulnerable households.
On Friday, 10 April, two women died in Kibera, Nairobi— one of the largest informal settlements in Africa — as a result of suffocation during a chaotic struggle to acquire food donations.
The chaotic distribution system in Kibera expresses the absolute desperation and hunger in low-income urban settings. Moreover, it represents the government’s failure to develop a distribution system that adheres to the social distancing guidelines.
Evidently, Kenya has not developed an efficient food aid system. The solution might be to involve the military in food distribution, like Uganda has.
Local community heads should be used to identify the most vulnerable households as priorities.
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