Abstract
Food security is a significant global challenge, particularly in developing countries like Kenya. Access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food is fundamental to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover, adopting a sustainable diet that considers health and environmental impacts is preferable to focusing solely on caloric intake. Here, we use Kenya Integrated Household Budgets Survey (KIHBS) 2015-16 data to assess household consumption. Two dietary indices were used: the ReDD index, which evaluates multidimensional caloric deprivation, and the HTL index, which measures the energy intensity of diet composition and reflects the relative amounts of plant- as opposed to animal-based products. Our findings show that 48% of Kenya’s population is deprived of a healthy, diverse, and sustainable diet, with the majority being in rural areas 51% and 48% in urban areas. Additionally, Northern counties suffered more deprivation than other regions. Furthermore, at least all households are deprived of one or more essential food groups. The sustainability index HTL revealed that most households consumed unsustainable diets, with values ranging from 2.09 to 2.2. Pastoralist counties showed consumption characterized by high animal product diets while exhibiting higher deprivation of essential diets. In addition, quantile regression results suggest heterogenous effects of key household characteristics predictors such as household size, education, income, and food expenditure on HTL and deprivation scores. These results highlight the need for policies that promote sufficient and diverse calorie intake while addressing environmental sustainability, particularly in the most food-insecure regions.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Food Production and Sustainability
KEYWORDS
FOOD SUSTAINABILITY, DIET DIVERSITY, FOOD SECURITY
