African Indigenous Vegetables (Research Paper Sample)

Food security is a matter of concern globally. Governments and international organizations are constantly making efforts towards the reduction of hunger and poverty. The development of a popular Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) christened “Zero Hunger” was a major effort towards ending poverty and hunger. However, ending hunger remains a dream to most nations across the globe (Ngure, Wandiga, Olago & Oriaso, 2021). Wineman, Ekwieme, Bigayimpuzi, Daihirou, Gois, Rodriguez and Mitchelle, 2022 recognizes that the World Food Program, (WFP), identifies countries along the Silk Roads including Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Somalia to have high cases of malnutrition, hunger and poverty. Over 20% of the population in East Africa is facing acute hunger. Kenya has a stressed food level situation thus faces hunger and nutritional stress. One of two children in Kenya under the age of 5 lacks the adequate nutrients for growth and health. This ultimately results to anemia and blindness in most severe cases (Henze, Abukutsa and Opiyo, 2020).
In Kenya an estimated population of about 25% faces malnourishment. Over 10 million people are food insecure. When one obtains food that is accessible and meet dietary needs at all times, they are able to promote their food security situation and fight malnutrition. Modification of one’s diet helps to fight hunger and malnutrition. Thanks to African Indigenous vegetables (AIVs) as they play a very vital role in hunger prevention and nutritional value promotion (Ngure et al., 2020). In Kenya, the poverty levels have been rapidly increasing. The population can utilize AIVs to improve their standards of living, create employment opportunities and generate income. This can only be achieved with the commercialization of the AIVs (Vivas, Takagi, Kirimi & Kim, 2020).