The Tugen community's fragile food security situation: Experiences of a marginalised community of eastern Baringo, Kenya

The Tugen community inhabiting the eastern part of Baringo County in Kenya have gone through an enduring period of food insecurity. The community has suffered and experienced hunger that at times culminated in severe consequences on the inhabitants, who continue to suffer helplessly. As a coping mechanism, women resort to boiling poisonous fruits from wild trees to feed the hungry children and old people for survival. Furthermore, the community faces harsh environmental conditions and challenges of cross-border conflicts with their neighbours from the Pokot county a situation that aggravates the already fragile food shortage situation and thus marginalises them further in terms of food accessibility. The objective of this study is therefore to assess the frequency of access to food by households, to investigate the role of the government in food security, to establish the level of agricultural extension department in food production, to analyse the government’s food distribution policy to the marginalised communities in Kenya and to establish the structural impact of food insecurity to the community. Using a survey design, data will be obtained by use of an interview scheduled from a sample of 100 respondents drawn from a sample frame of desegregated households selected using a proportionate sampling technique. The study hypothesises that there is an association between the Government’s inability to distribute relief food to the marginalised communities and lack of food among the Tugen community, there is an association between lack of agricultural extension services and food insecurity in the area. Data will be analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The Chi-Square χ² will be used to test the variables at a significance level of 0.05. The study will assist the government to redesign its food distribution policy within the framework of enhancing the food security situation in the country in marginal areas.