by Peter Orengo

A day after the Global Hunger Index placed Kenya among the world’s most hungry nations, another humanitarian agency says the country scored 42 out of 100 on hunger.

New findings from ActionAid on the state of hunger in 51 countries say the Government is not doing enough to feed its population.

The report: Who’s Really Fighting Hunger? reveals that the Government committed a paltry four per cent of its national budget to agriculture.

The report says: "The right to food is completely absent from the Kenyan Constitution and legislation. Crop failures, doubling food prices and post-electoral unrest have left Kenya facing a food crisis with ten million people at risk of hunger."

ActionAid’s Head of Policy and Campaigns Nixon Otieno said: "It is a scandal that one in ten Kenyans needs emergency food aid, while we export fruit and vegetables to European supermarkets."

"Our Government and donor partners must invest in poor farmers who grow food for local markets. Permanent safety nets must be put in place so that no one starves for lack of income," he added.

Mr Otieno slammed rich countries for contributing to hunger by allowing climate change to worsen.

The scorecard revealed that some of the poorest countries in the world had made progress on hunger than some wealthier ones.

"It’s the role of the State and not the level of wealth that determines progress on hunger," said Ms Anne Jellema, ActionAid’s policy director, when launching the scorecard report.

"Every six seconds a child dies from hunger, but this scandal could easily be ended if all governments took determined action," said Jellema.