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Nutri-Kakuma

An innovative approach based on nutritional accompaniment, moringa cultivation, and networking to address anemia, malnutrition, and food deficiency.

Municipality

KE
Kakuma, Turkana County,

Category / Sub-Category / Topic

Healthcare, Feeding

Type of investment needed

Grant

Associated SDGs

The challenge

Refugees and asylum seekers who reside at Kakuma Refugee Camp do not have access to an adequate food supply. This situation resulted from the encampment's harsh conditions, work restrictions, drought in the Horn of Africa, and forced displacement. Women, children, and teenage girls suffer the most from this challenge. The World Food Program (WFP) provides monthly ration to every household, supplementary aliment for pregnant women and children in clinics, and a school feeding program for children in schools. Despite these efforts, the lack of funds does not allow WFP to fully serve refugees and asylum seekers appropriately to address food deficiency issues, malnutrition, and anemia.

According to a study conducted by the WFP in 2021 in Kakuma, 8 out of 10 children under 5 years of age suffer from anemia and/or other nutrient deficiency issues. In addition to children, pregnant women and young girls suffer from anemia and food deficiency issues. For example, limited access to iron, the nutrient whose deficiency causes the increasing rate of anemia in the refugee camp, has been the most notable lacking nutrient in the diet of refugee children, pregnant women, and teenage girls in the refugee camp. This is because girls lose a lot of iron during menstruation, and pregnant women lose nutrients during the period of gestation. Limited access to highly nutritious food prevents pregnant women, children, and girls from intaking nutrients their bodies need to function appropriately. In addition to anemia, limited access to nutrients cause other major health issues such as kwashiorkor, increasing mortality, and even psychological troubles for the parents, family members, and even the surrounding community.


The project

Nutri-Kakuma is an initiative developed to decrease the population with anemia within the refugee camp through the following five strategies:

Networking: articulate with the hospital to identify the anemic people within different blocks. The Refugee Camp is divided into 4 camps (Kakuma 1 through Kakuma 4), and each camp has more than 1 zone which in turn has more than 2 blocks each. There are 7 clinics (including the Hasraf General Hospital) in the camp. These clinics have data of people suffering from anemia in the camp.

Nutritional accompaniment: home visits will be carried out to people who have been identified having serious anemia issues. We will work on the importance of incorporating nutritious food in their diets for an integral development. During these visits, members of the households will be trained and sensitized on the importance of letting pregnant women and children consume supplemental nutritious food provided by WFP and Nutri-Kakuma project proponents.

Train members of households (especially Head of Households) on the sustainable agriculture of Moringa and other crops rich in iron. After the training, trainees will be provided with agricultural tools to create a small kitchen garden. These trainings will also incorporate the importance of consuming iron and ways to prevent and protect family members against anemia.

Moringa cultivation: family vegetable gardens will be created to increase the level of iron in the daily diet of those with and without anemia. This will be done by adding leaves of moringa (or their powder) in every recipe a family cooks. Moringa will not change the flavor of the recipe much, but increase the level of iron in it. Simultaneously, a Demo Community Garden will be created to cultivate Moringa and other crops rich in iron (such as kale, spinach, and cassava leaves). These crops have proved to be friendly to the semi-arid climatic conditions of Kakuma.

Evaluation and discharge: once the weight and nutritional situation has been recovered, the person will be discharged from the nutritional accompaniment activities.


Know more...

Kakuma Refugee Camp is the second largest refugee camp in Africa. The camp is located in Turkana County in northern Kenya, close to the South Sudanese border. The region is semi-arid with rare annual rainfalls. The temperature in the camp reaches 36 degrees and above on a regular basis, with sandstorms most of the year.The harsh weather conditions make it difficult for the residents to do agriculture and produce crops. As a result, they live a pastoralist life - rearing cattle, goats, sheeps, etc.

Refugees joining the camp are provided with a plot of land and certain materials they need to meet their basic needs (shelter, clothes, food, etc.). They have the right to use the plot of land allocated to them, but not the right to exploit it or extend it. This regulation prevents refugees from participating in agricultural activities and projects that require big access to land to exploit it and support their nutrition. Moreover, the encampment policies and the insecurity in the region restrict refugees from adopting a pastoralist life - forcing them to stay in the refugee camp where they cannot produce food through farming.

Kakuma Refugee Camp was jointly opened by the Kenyan Government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1992 to host the lost boys - South-Sudanese teenage refugees from Ethiopia and South Sudan. Over the years, people from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, and more than ten other countries sought asylum or refuge in the camp. Currently, more than 160,000 refugees and asylum seekers reside in the camp. There are more than 60,000 members of the host communities living in the outskirts of the refugee camp as well. Another 80,000 people live in the nearby Kalobeyei Settlement - including 20,000 members of the hosts’ community. As a result of this, there are people from various tribes with diverse linguistic backgrounds, cultures, religions, and economic backgrounds.

Residents of Kakuma face many challenges. Poverty, low education, poor quality of health care services, human rights abuses, injustices, and poor nutrition among others. The World Food Program supports the nutrition of refugees by providing monthly food rations, school feeding programs, and supplemental food for pregnant women and children in clinics. However, based on the territorial validation exercises conducted this year, the poor nutrition challenge is fueled by unfavorable cultural practices among refugees, underfunding of the World Food Program activities, and low access to various nutritious food among refugees. For example, refugees and members of the host community use the supplemental feeds for children and pregnant women as a candy - rather than a medicinal solution to support the health of pregnant women and children. These feeds get consumed by unintended users as they get illegally sold to every buyer in shops. Simultaneously, the World Food Program has been cutting down the aid they provide because of low funding. Yet, the regulations in place, the poor economic status of many Kakuma residents, and low access to exploitable land prevent residents of Kakuma from producing food or importing adequate food.

Nutritional deficiencies, particularly the deficiency of iron, folate, vitamins B12 and A; hemoglobinopathies; and infectious diseases cause anemia among children and pregnant women in the refugee camp. Children and pregnant women who suffer from anemia usually report excessive fatigue, weakness, dizziness, and shortness of breath, among others. The condition affects children's immune systems and increases children's vulnerability to the effects of infections such as malaria. Altogether, anemia and infectious disease lead to many children dying before the age of 5 years in the refugee camp. The probability of children born from anemic mothers surviving the first 5 years is low compared to children born from non-anemic mothers. Anemic children who survive after 5 years of age generally experience poor growth rates. This affects many of them from pursuing adequate formal education and adequate learning in childhood. Yet, limited access to learning opportunities and education opportunities in early childhood may have negative effects on a child’s future.

  • Cooperation with International Rescue Committee hospitals: Talk to the hospital to generate a referral protocol for identified pregnant women and children under 5 that need to be part of the beneficiaries of Nutri-Kakuma.
  • Community assessment: Identifying pregnant women and children under 5 years in need of support in different communities.
  • Request access to land: We will follow up with the county administration to request permission to use the free space in Kakuma that we have identified.
  • Designing a nutritional education strategy: This strategy entails direct communication with selected public health professionals in order to jointly design a practical and compact nutrition education strategy.
  • Sustainable agriculture training: We will train members of households (including heads of households) with children under 5 years and/or pregnant women on the sustainable agriculture of moringa and other crops rich in iron. We will also train some pregnant women who are not necessarily heads of households.
  • Nutritional accompaniment training: We will train households’ members on the importance of allowing children and pregnant women to consume WFP supplemental feeds. This also includes training them on the importance of incorporating nutritious food into their diets.
  • Moringa cultivation: Cultivate moringa and other crops rich in iron in the community garden and many home gardens.
  • Evaluation: Evaluate the impact of the project at the end of each semester.

Immediate results

  • 1 Protocol for the articulation between the Hospital and Nutri Kakuma.
  • Selection of 600+ individuals to benefit from the Nutri Kakuma initiative.
  • 1 space for the moringa cultivation. 
  • 1 Curriculum and roadmap to guide the training program.
  • Reach at least 170 to 200 households through sustainable agriculture training.
  • Reach more than 600 individuals (or at least 100 households) through Nutritional accompaniment training.
  • Create at least 170 home gardens at trainees' homes where they farm moringa and other iron-rich crops. 
  • 2 classes of training for 12 days per month for 6 months. Training focuses on sustainable moringa agriculture and nutrition during 6 months for a cohort of 100 trainees. There will be 2 cohorts in the first year for both trainings.
  • Identify improvements to be made in the future and assess the impact made in each semester.
Impact expected

  • Decrease the population with anemia within the refugee camp by 50%
  • Decrease the population with anemia within the Hong Kong Area by 5%
  • Increase consumption of Moringa and iron-rich food by more than 500% in selected families.
  • Improved health for 85% of anemic children and pregnant women in the program


  • World Food Programme (United Nations)
  • United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (United Nations)
  • Jesuit Refugee Service
  • Club VIjana Twaweza
  • International Rescue Committee 

  • Junior Glory Lukambo. Secretary and Co-founder of Vijana Twaweza Club (lukambojuniorjunior@gmail.com).
  • Luundo wa Luundo. Founder and Director of Vijana Twaweza Club (luundodieumerci80@gmail.com). 
  • Nyasunday Bol. Learning Facilitator at Vijana Twaweza Club (soniabol2016@gmail.com).
  • Beatrice Kotola. Sub-County Commissioner (navututubeatrice@yahoo.com). 
  • Susan Mwangi. Associate Professor at Tangaza University
  • Ekai Clifford Lopuskou. Environmental Officer at the Department of Refugee Services Officer.

Investment

(*): In kind/pro bonus

(**): Financing

Goods and inputs
Funds
Needed
Covered
Solicited

Artículos de papelería (bolígrafos, libros, etc.) (*) (**)

u$s 2800.00

u$s 800.00

u$s 2000.00

Aparato para realizar prueba de anemia (*) (**)

u$s 170.00

u$s 50.00

u$s 120.00

Parcela (*) (**)

u$s 1500.00

u$s 500.00

u$s 1000.00

material de agricultura (**)

u$s 3000.00

u$s 500.00

u$s 2500.00

semillas (*) (**)

u$s 500.00

u$s 250.00

u$s 250.00

5 tabletas (*) (**)

u$s 1200.00

u$s 200.00

u$s 1000.00

3 entrevistadores (**)

u$s 1800.00

u$s 600.00

u$s 1200.00

Services
Funds
Needed
Covered
Solicited

1 Centro de aprendizaje (*)

u$s 1500.00

u$s 1500.00

u$s 0.00

conexión a internet (**)

u$s 800.00

u$s 100.00

u$s 700.00

transporte (*) (**)

u$s 1800.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 1800.00

Human resources
Funds
Needed
Covered
Solicited

7 miembros de Nutri-Kakuma (para la cooperación con los hospitales del Comité Internacional de Rescate) (**)

u$s 2000.00

u$s 570.00

u$s 1430.00

3 personas de seguridad para el jardín comunitario (**)

u$s 3600.00

u$s 700.00

u$s 2900.00

3 educadores (*) (**)

u$s 5400.00

u$s 700.00

u$s 4700.00

2 facilitadores (**)

u$s 3120.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 3120.00

Others
Funds
Needed
Covered
Solicited

Tiempo aire para comunicación (**)

u$s 400.00

u$s 100.00

u$s 300.00

TOTAL AMOUNTS:

u$s 29590.00

u$s 6570.00

u$s 23020.00

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