USAID – Afya Timiza Project Compendium

Samburu and Turkana Counties have sustained high cases of both chronic and acute malnutrition of children under 5 years, alongside undernutrition in pregnant and lactating mothers. In Samburu, these are attributed to rampant food and nutrition insecurity (hunger) poor behaviour practices, and high disease burden. As a result of inadequate dietary intake, there are increased cases of stunting at 34.0%, wasting at 18.3%, and underweight at 34.3% among children under 5. Further, levels of deworming, vitamin A supplementation and IFAS supplementation among pregnant mothers were all below the national averages . The situation worsens when the county experiences prolonged periods of drought and conflict, absence of clear policies and strategies for a multi-sectoral approach on food and nutrition security by the county government was also a major problem in addressing malnutrition.