To make progress in food systems, we must support what feeds us

This week, more than 3,000 delegates from across the globe are gathering in Addis Ababa for the UN Food Systems Summit +4 Stocktake (UNFSS+4), whose goal is to take stock of progress in transforming food systems to deliver healthy, equitable, and sustainable diets for all.

This milestone arrives with just five years left to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and at a time of intensifying global crises.

Climate change, economic shocks, and conflict are worsening hunger and widening inequality.

Since 2020, global food prices have risen by more than 35 per cent, outpacing overall inflation and hitting low-income countries the hardest.

This is a timely moment for Kenya to reflect on its path. Despite bold commitments to food systems transformation made in 2021, hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity continue to rise, especially in our cities.

According to the 2024 FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report, over 70 per cent of Kenyans experience moderate to severe food insecurity.

In informal settlements, the figure exceeds 80 per cent. At least two million Kenyans are exposed to acute food insecurity—crisis-level hunger. These numbers are not abstract.

They are everyday struggles for low-income households, with women, children and youth bearing the heaviest burden. Addressing food insecurity is key, therefore, not just to SDG two (Zero Hunger), but to making progress on more equitable and inclusive societies.

While platforms such as the UNFSS are important in driving necessary conversations on food insecurity, they often overlook some of the most powerful yet unseen solutions,  which are already with us—embedded in our communities, knowledge, and practices.

These solutions lie in working with—rather than around—the informal economy, which drives both our production and access to food, to build more resilient and inclusive food systems.

Why the informal food sector matters

Informality in food systems is not an isolated phenomenon. It is how most of our food production, distribution and retail is organised in Kenya.

Across the country, informal vendors supply fresh produce, cooked meals, and staple foods to places that formal markets don’t reach.

They operate with speed, flexibility, and social knowledge, making them even more vital in hard times.

Smallholder farmers continue to play a crucial role in growing the staple crops that feed our country, while protecting climate-resilient indigenous plants and the traditional knowledge needed to grow them.

Informal vendors sell food in quantities people can afford, often offer credit when money is tight, and help ensure that even the poorest families don’t go hungry. They are entrepreneurs and community safety nets.

Informality also powers employment. Over 80 per cent of Kenya’s new jobs are in the informal sector, which contributes more than a fifth of the national GDP.

This encompasses a significant portion of the food system, from smallholder production to transportation and retail.

As Kenya’s urban population is projected to reach nearly 50 per cent by 2050—more than 40 million people—the number relying on informal systems for food and income will only grow.

Outdated policies are holding us back

People in informal food systems, like vendors, play a crucial role but are often overlooked or penalised by policies.

This disregard hampers food security and the delivery of safe meals, especially to those in need.

Without support, vendors struggle to meet strict regulations, worsening their conditions.

At UNFSS+4, countries are assessing their food systems’ progress, focusing on rights-based approaches, inclusive governance, and collaboration.

Kenya can lead by example by recognising informal associations, including them in urban food policies, and investing in their capacity to provide safe, affordable food. The critical need now is action.

A call to a shift in mindset

As hunger increases, food prices rise, and budgets tighten, we must shift our perspective on informal food systems from seeing them as a problem to recognising them as part of the solution.

Kenya should formally acknowledge informal food vendors as vital public service providers by fostering trust-based partnerships rather than imposing top-down formalisation.

Investment from national and county governments, donors, and civil society is essential for these workers, particularly women, who dominate the sector.

To effectively end hunger, promote equity, and build resilient cities, we must prioritise the people and systems already providing us with food. Ignoring them is not only unjust but counterproductive.

-Emmanuel Atamba is a researcher and advocate for sustainable and inclusive food systems based in Nairobi and Food Systems Director at TMG Research, while Lumi Youm is a communications officer at TMG Research.