Kenya may be richer than its neighbours, but Kenyans eat worse meals, all because healthy food here costs considerably more, a new United Nations report suggests.
Healthy food in Kenya is on average more expensive than in other countries in Africa and even the world, the report says.
This means most Kenyans are unable to provide a healthy fruit every day for their children, or a regular plate with meat and adequate greens.
“The high prices of nutrient-dense items, specifically animal source foods, fruits and vegetables, account for nearly 70 per cent of the cost of a healthy diet,” the report released on Thursday says.
The report is titled: 'The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026'.
Last year, the daily cost of a healthy diet in Kenya reached $4.50 (Sh582.84) 'purchasing power parity'. Purchasing power parity (PPP) compares money based on what it can actually buy in different countries, rather than using exchange rates. It shows the real value of income by taking into account the cost of living.
Using this measure, a healthy plate of food in Kenya is more expensive than the African average of $4.35 (Sh563.41) and the global average of $4.28 (Sh554.35).
Because of this high cost of healthy food, 76.3 per cent of Kenyans (44 million people) cannot regularly afford the healthy food they need to grow and stay healthy, the report indicates.
This number has grown since 2017, when 69.8 per cent of Kenyans could not afford healthy food.
Across the rest of the continent, the average share of people who do not eat a healthy meal is lower, at 66.6 per cent.
The higher figure in Kenya shows that its citizens are struggling more than most other Africans simply to put a decent meal on the table.
World Food Programme acting executive director Carl Skau said conflicts and climate shocks will worsen the situation. “We must continue working with partner agencies, governments and communities to build food systems that hold up under shock, so families can afford nutritious diets even in times of crisis. We now need sustained investment to match the scale of the challenge,” he said.
The report was produced by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), UN Children's Fund (Unicef), World Food Programme (WFP) and World Health Organisation (WHO).
It explains that a healthy diet is one that is adequate, balanced varied and eaten in the right amounts.
This means having some animal foods like milk, eggs or fish, alongside fruits and vegetables, not just starchy foods like githeri, rice or ugali every day.
"Diet quality is often the first thing to be sacrificed when people's budgets tighten," the report says.
It notes fruits and vegetables are especially costly because nearly half of the harvest never reaches the market.
Post-harvest losses for fruits and vegetables can exceed "30 to 40 per cent" in Africa, largely because of poor roads, hot delivery trucks and a lack of cold storage, it says.
Unicef executive director Catherine Russell said every child deserves the chance to grow and develop to their full potential.
“This report is a stark reminder that food systems fail millions of children and families,” she said.
"Food, health, education and social protection must go hand in hand to protect the most vulnerable children and women from global shocks."
The high cost of food worsens a wider hunger crisis. Undernourishment in Kenya stands at 34.9 per cent, far higher than the African average of 20.1 per cent.
To close this gap, the UN report suggests Kenya's government should consider repurposing public agricultural subsidies away from staple crops towards diverse foods, such as beans, fruits and milk.
Better roads, more cold storage and support for farmers growing a wider variety of crops could all help bring down the true cost of a healthy plate, so that a piece of fruit is no longer a luxury for a Kenyan family, but an ordinary part of every child's day.
The report further points out that many African governments have spent more money supporting maize and wheat farmers than those growing fruits, vegetables and legumes. This has left healthy foods more expensive compared to grains.
WHO director general Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus called for policies that make healthy food the easy choice, promoting breastfeeding, front-of-pack labelling, taxing unhealthy products and protecting children from harmful marketing.
In his starement, FAO director general QU Dongyu said the report shows that making healthy diets affordable requires political commitment, sustained investment and enabling policies.
“Recent crises… have demonstrated both the resilience of agrifood systems and the need to strengthen them further to better serve the world’s most vulnerable people, farmers and consumers,” he said.
The report also shows that Kenya has more hunger than most of its neighbours. It says 34.9 per cent of Kenyans were undernourished between 2023 and 2025.
This is much higher than the African average of 20.1 per cent and the Eastern Africa average of 25.8 per cent. The report adds that 71.7 per cent of Kenyans face moderate or severe food insecurity, compared to 57.4 per cent across Africa.
Even with these challenges, Kenya has made good progress in some areas of child nutrition. The report shows that child stunting in Kenya dropped from 29 per cent in 2012 to 17.9 per cent in 2024.
This is better than the African average of 30.3 per cent and even better than the world average of 23.2 per cent.
Breastfeeding rates have also improved. At least 59.7 per cent of Kenyan mothers exclusively breastfed their babies in 2024, up from 31.9 per cent in 2012. This is above the African average of 44.8 per cent.
