Research Data

In this thesis, the documents intended to be used for research will be in the field of national policy documents and international policy framework documents dealing with food and food security/insecurity, as well as on gender and the roles played by African rural women. The focus will mainly be on Food Policies implemented in Kenya to see whether they have adequately addressed the issue of gender roles in food security at the national level. These three documents are the instruments used to frame out the required guidelines that the people of Kenya are empowered to receive their rights through, also what the Kenyan government is required to do for its people regarding food security and women empowerment.

These documents include:

The Kenyan Constitution is the supreme law of Kenya. It was conscripted on the 27^th of August in 2010 bringing about a new dawn as the previous constitution was signed in 1963, which had been a little outdated and greatly needed updating. Over 67% of Kenyan voters approved the constitution in the 2010 referendum, indeed a historical moment to millions (Unknown, Kenyan Constitution, 2017). The new 2010 Constitution of Kenya, which establishes a devolved system of government called ‘County Government’, the new Constitution is being hailed as promising and progressive (LANDac, 2016, p. 1).

The Kenyan Food Security Bill of 2014 is a legislative framework passed to address food security in line with article 43(1)(c) of the Kenyan Constitution of 2010

The Kenyan National Food and Nutrition Security Policy is a policy developed by the Ministry of Agriculture to address food insecurity in the country.

On the international level, these documents include:

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are “The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty rates to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest. The UN is also working with governments, civil society and other partners to build on the momentum generated by the MDGs.” (UN, Millennium Goals, 2017).

29 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are ““The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are our shared vision of humanity and a social contract between the world’s leaders and the people,” UN former Security General Ban Ki-moon said of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted unanimously by 193 Heads of State and other top leaders at a summit at UN Headquarters in New York in September.” (UN, Sustainable Development Goals kick off with start of new year , 2017).

Universal Declaration on Human Rights is a non-legally binding document in 1948 was adopted, the general agreement was that the rights which were to be enshrined in the Declaration were to be transformed into legally binding obligations through the negotiation of one or more treaties (OHCHR, 1966).

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) aims to

“…ensure the protection of economic, social and cultural rights including: the right to self-determination of all peoples (article 1); the right to non-discrimination based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status (article 2); the equal right of men and women to enjoy the rights in the ICESCR (article 3); the right to work (articles 6–7); the right to form and join trade unions (article 8);

the right to social security (article 9); protection and assistance to the family (article 10); the right to an adequate standard of living (article 11); the right to health (article 12); the right to education (articles 13–14); and the right to cultural freedoms (article 15).” (OHCHR, 1966).

The Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition/The Five Rome Principles for Sustainable Global Food Security was adopted in November 2009 by the World Summit on Food Security in Rome, provides a powerful strategic underpinning for coordinated action by all stakeholders at global, regional and country level, while embracing the twin-track approach to fighting hunger.

The Five Rome Principles for Sustainable Global Food Security helps global, regional and country level stakeholders to coordinating their actions and embracing the twin-tower approach of fighting hunger. The principles include:

“Principle 1: Invest in country-owned plans, aimed at channelling resources to well-designed and results-based programmes and partnerships.

30 Principle 2: Foster strategic coordination at national, regional and global level to improve governance, promote better allocation of resources, avoid duplication of efforts and identify response gaps.

Principle 3: Strive for a comprehensive twin-track approach to food security that consists of:

(a) direct action to immediately tackle hunger for the most vulnerable; and (b) medium- and long-term sustainable agricultural, food security, nutrition and rural development programmes CFS 2012/39/5 Add.1 11 to eliminate the root causes of hunger and poverty, including the progressive realization of the right to adequate food.

Principle 4: Ensure a strong role for the multilateral system by sustained improvements in efficiency, responsiveness, coordination and effectiveness of multilateral institutions.

Principle 5: Ensure sustained and substantial commitment by all partners to investment in agriculture and food security and nutrition, with the provision of necessary resources in a timely and reliable fashion, aimed at multi-year plans and programmes.” (CFS, 2016) The Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security (VGRTF) was Adopted by the 127^th session

of the FAO Council, November 2004.

The objective of the Voluntary Guidelines is to provide practical guidance to States in their implementation of the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security. Its vision is to ““strive for a world free from hunger where countries implement the voluntary guidelines for the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security.” (FAO, Right to Food , 2017).

The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in The Context of National Food Security (VGGT) “…serves as a reference and to provide guidance to improve the governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests with the overarching goal of achieving food security for all and to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security.” (FAO, Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, 2012).

The 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 34/180 of 18th December 1979 entry into force 3rd September 1981

31 (UN G. A., Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979).

The 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (DEVAW) recognizes that there is an urgent need for the universal application to women of the rights and principles concerning equality, security, liberty, integrity and dignity of all human beings (UN G. A., Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, 1993).

These national Kenyan documents will be likened to the international policy documents to see whether the Kenyan food policies that regard rural women are up to par. This policy analysis through document analysis will question the extent to which Kenya has gone to empower the rural women to improve their household, local and national food security, reducing malnutrition and hunger within the country. These international and national documents being compared against each other assist in forming a clear picture to what extent have Kenyan food security policies fallen behind in the empowerment of rural women in the agricultural sector.

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