By Senator George McGovern
Last week, I travelled with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) to visit its projects in various parts of Kenya, and I just fell in love with the beautiful country. One thing that struck me about Kenya as I admired the lush vegetation is that poverty should not be an issue in this country, and in particular, people should not suffer from food insecurity. However, thousands of Kenyans have no idea where their next meal will come from and WFP is currently providing food assistance to 1.8 million people there.
By Senator George McGovern
Last week, I travelled with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) to visit its projects in various parts of Kenya, and I just fell in love with the beautiful country. One thing that struck me about Kenya as I admired the lush vegetation is that poverty should not be an issue in this country, and in particular, people should not suffer from food insecurity. However, thousands of Kenyans have no idea where their next meal will come from and WFP is currently providing food assistance to 1.8 million people there.
During my travels, I came across some wonderful programs – one of the most inspiring is a project that works with people affected by HIV/AIDS. AMPATH (Academic Model Providing Access to Health Care) is a partnership between Indiana University’s School of Medicine and Moi University’s School of Medicine in Kenya. Through this program, AMPATH goes beyond providing healthcare and has worked with the local community to take away some of the shame and stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. Because of the important role that nutrition plays in the management of the disease, AMPATH has partnered with WFP to provide food assistance to those who are infected and their families.
AMPATH has also implemented programs that foster food and economic security for HIV-infected people and their families by developing demonstration farms to enable subsistence farmers to improve their agricultural output using relevant and sustainable farming techniques. This has enabled them to grow enough food for their families and to have surpluses, which they can sell to WFP. Though they were once receiving food assistance from WFP, they have now become WFP’s suppliers - amazing! These people may be dependent on their medication, but they are certainly not dependent on aid.
This brings me to one of the most important aspects of assistance – that it should not be permanent. Instead, it should be structured to help people move from assistance to being able to depend on themselves. And I have seen how this principle is written into many of WFP’s projects in Kenya. One of these programs is the Purchase for Progress program, popularly referred to as P4P. Through P4P, WFP is using its purchasing power to promote agricultural development and improve market access for smallholder farmers. It is through P4P that WFP is buying food commodities from the people at AMPATH, thus providing not only a market for surpluses, but also encouraging farmers to grow more food.
On Thursday, I went to Isiolo district in the arid heart of Kenya. There, in a small village known as Gambella, I found women of various ethnic groups working together and dancing together. I was invited to dance and I could not resist – If I had known how much dancing I was going to do in Kenya, I would have taken a few dancing classes before I went there!
What was striking, apart from the dancing, was that the various tribes the women belonged to have previously been hostile to each other, yet now they have been brought together by a need to improve their lives through a WFP program known as Food for Assets (FFA). FFA projects are aimed at improving food security in local communities; participants are provided with food in exchange for the work they put in to developing the project. The women at Gambella were working together on a project to harvest rainwater, which would otherwise have run off and taken fertile soil with it in the process. They will use the water they have collected for their livestock and for irrigation, thereby improving their food security.
I also saw this disregard for division along tribal lines at the local school that I visited where children from the various communities have been united by the school meals provided by WFP. Here the children are learning harmoniously and I could not tell which tribe any of them belonged to. The daily school meal they receive, which is supported by the U.S. McGovern-Dole Program, provides a safety net for hungry children and also encourages them to enroll and remain in school for a better future.
Having seen WFP and other U.S.-supported projects throughout the week, I thought that I would leave the country with just fond memories of Kenya. I was wrong and was in for a pleasant surprise when the Masai community honored me by appointing me a community elder. I am told that this is a very dignified and honored position because in the conservative Masai community, the elders are the decision makers and are consulted before any important decision is made. I will, however, have to depend on the other elders who know the culture of the Masai to avoid giving misleading counsel!
My week-long visit to Kenya sadly came to an end and I headed to Uganda for yet another fascinating visit.