Nutritional Profile of the Population in a Food-For-Work Project Area: A Case Study from Samburu District, Kenya

Abstract

The nutrition status of Samburu tribesmen of northern Kenya and the potential nutritional effects of a food-for-work programme were assessed by anthropometric and dietary surveys over a period of five weeks. The investigations were carried out at four input localities, where the programme had provided a daily average of 173 kcal and 5 g protein per capita over the preceding year, and a fifth control area. Compared with Kenya as a whole, the Samburu community showed an unexpectedly high prevalence of wasting: 74% of the surveyed individuals were below 90% of the NCHS weight-for-height median, and 34% were below 80%. Relative wasting was especially prevalent among school-age children, of whom 86% were below 90% and 44% were below 80% of the standard, and among elders, with 88% and 64% below these thresholds respectively. Mid-upper arm circumferences were lowest among school-age children (mean 14.6 cm). Haematocrits were low in all age and social groups. Aside from three preschool children with xerophthalmia, a number of both preschool and school-age children had clinical histories suggestive of earlier vitamin A deficiency. Goitre was more prevalent among the older generations than among school-age or preschool children, suggesting a periodic but not uninterrupted availability of iodized salt. In the input locations, both anthropometric and haematocrit values among the most vulnerable members of the communities, preschool children and women of reproductive age, were significantly higher than those for comparable groups in the control location. Overall, the food-for-work programme was judged to be a worthwhile effort to help Samburus to be once again self-sufficient.

Avoiding Disaster: Diversification and Risk Management among East African Herders

“…In most studies, only the absence/presence of food-aid transfers is indicated, and only anecdotal data on food aid amounts per recipient and their income value are provided (see Table A1). In certain parts of the study area, more than 40 per cent of the population receive some food aid during the year (GFA, 1993;Kielmann et al, 1994) and during the most recent drought (1999±2000) the number was much higher (see United Nations, 2000). As Table A1 demonstrates, more than 70 per cent of studies indicate the presence of food aid, with data more readily available for Kenyan than Ethiopian sites.…”

In a cup of tea: Commodities and history among Samburu pastoralists in northern Kenya

“…The identity of women continues to be defined through their role as food providers even as they become dependent on a primarily male resource-cash-to fulfill that role (see also Straight 1997). Food scarcity poses problems for elders (e.g., Holtzman 2001;Kielmann et al 1994), as well, who are expected to show restraint in eating and from whom the processes of food allocation are often hidden.…”

Politics And Gastropolitics: Gender And The Power Of Food In Two African Pastoralist Societies

“…This is particularly the case within contexts in which resources are inadequate to meet basic nutritional needs -a situation in which elders may be disadvantaged vis-à-vis women because of their lesser role in food distribution, while lacking the freedom of moran to seek their share elsewhere. Indeed, nutritional data (though inconclusive due to methodological difficulties in their collection) indicate higher levels of undernutrition among elders as compared to both women and moran (Kielmann et al 1994). Comparison with the neighbouring Turkana shows that men, though receiving greater amounts of prestige foods (presumably due to their position of authority) are not better off nutritionally, and actually lose relatively more body mass than women in times of drought, and recover it more slowly in times of plenty (Galvin 1985).…”