School children from Marbel academy in Migori town

County governments have been urged to increase their budget allocations towards the improvement of nutritional levels among the people in the country.

Speaking in Sori, Nyatike sub-county on Wednesday, Titus Katembu, representative of the European Union (EU) delegation in Nairobi said nutrition is a problem that is not well recognized by governments.

“Under nutrition is a very serious problem and is not well addressed even by most of the governments,” Katembu said.

Children are most affected and as World Bank reports, those who are undernourished between conception and age two are at high risk for impaired cognitive development, which adversely affects the country’s productivity and growth.

Katembu noted that standing levels currently show that nutrition is not given the much desired attention as it is not well funded by respective governments.

The EU representative said that the standing of nutrition in the county is worrying based on the people’s nutrition habits and this largely affects development.

“Without nutrition we cannot move. And Nutrition is not just applying food, it is not giving people food but nutritionally rich food,” he explained.

According to Katembu, status of nutrition in the country is very bad prompting urgent support from county government.

“County governments should not just support nutrition verbally but act by directing money towards nutritional projects,” he said.

He also urged the governments to be at the forefront in pushing for the agenda in nutrition which will in turn address resulting effects of under nutrition.

Katembu was speaking during the launch of a project to enhance maternal and child nutrition and health in Nyatike at St. Camillus – Dala Kiye.

The project that is set to run for three years will be implemented by an International organisation, We World Onlu in partnership with Migori County government, Kenya Red Cross society and Dala Kiye.

The project that will cost 625,000 Euros will also help address maternal death and child mortality rates which are highly reported in Nyanza.

This, Katembu said, is significantly contributed by nutritional problems experienced in the region.

“Acute and chronic malnutrition is associated with diseases and death as well as productivity and human capital in adults as well as cognitive and educational outcome in later childhood and adolescents,” the EU delegate said

The county government, through respective County Executive Committee members, pledged multi-sectorial support from the education, health, agriculture and finance department towards the project.

The County government is also in the final stages of rolling out a school feeding program that was launched early this year and will see class one pupils benefit milk.

With this the standing rates in Nutrition in the county are set to go up from 20.4% which is above Kenya’s standing of 20%.

We World representative Annulita Spanyolo called for political commitment to draft a county nutrition action plan that then can be implemented and disseminated to the community.