**1.2 The East African community**

The EAC existed as an important trading block up until its break up in 1977 (it was then made up of Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika-i.e., Tanzania, but without Zanzibar, Pemba and the smaller Islands in the Indian Ocean); It was revived on 30th November 1999, but the instruments for its re-establishment came into effect in 2000. It has a larger country composition, comprising of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan. On 14th June 2019, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) requested to join the trading bloc, but the request is yet to be discussed and determined. The region has a current population of over 150 million people, but is likely to surpass 240 million, if the DRC is formally admitted as a member. The EAC as currently constituted is made up of over 200 ethnic groups. The current 6 member states of the EAC appear in **Figure 1**.

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sea level.

*1.2.2 Regional weather and vegetation*

*Food and Nutrition Security in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania): Status, Challenges…*

This part of the continent is composed mainly of plateaus, most of the highest elevations on the African continent and the largest lakes in Africa. In Kenya and parts of Tanzania, the highest elevations in the highlands reach as high as 2000–3000 feet above the mean sea level. The twin Rift Valley Systems run across the Region. The Great or Eastern Rift Valley runs from the Red Sea down through Ethiopia and Kenya going downward towards Tanzania, where the faulting activity created Lake Turkana and Tanganyika. The Western Rift System curves around western Uganda and Tanzania and includes Lake Victoria, the largest tropical lake and the largest and second largest fresh water lake in Africa and the World by surface area, respectively. Africa's highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro stands on the edge of the Great Rift Valley at above 19,340 feet (5895 metres above sea level) in northeastern Tanzania. Rwanda and Burundi sit on the edge of the western side of the Western Rift System and are a conflagration of hills and valleys that mesh into the fertile tropical forests of the DRC in the west. South Sudan sits between the dry northern Kenya plains, the semi-arid eastern Uganda and western Ethiopia. South Sudan is made up of tropical forests, swamps and grassland. The Imatong Mountains contain South Sudan's highest point, Mount Kinyeti at 10,456 feet above

The climate of the Region is generally tropical, but the high temperatures are tempered by the high elevations, the valleys and hills of Rwanda, Burundi and western Uganda. Precipitation depends on altitude, with western Kenya, South Sudan, most of Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi receiving high amounts of rainfall. Northern Kenya and the Karamoja Region of Uganda, receive low amounts of rainfall ranging from 5 to 40 inches annually, though Karamoja receives slightly hjgher than 40 inches annually. These low rainfall areas have low food production

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.95036*

*1.2.1 Geography of the region*

*Member states of the EAC (shaded).*

**Figure 1.**

*Food and Nutrition Security in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania): Status, Challenges… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.95036*

**Figure 1.** *Member states of the EAC (shaded).*

*Food Security in Africa*

which the food is consumed. Thus food security can be defined in six dimensions that are interrelated, which are: physical availability of food, economic and physical access to food, affordability of the food supply, availability of adequate and safe food, the utilization or the ability of the body to make use of the nutrients and the stability of the dimensions; in summary, the dimensions are access, availability, adequacy, safety, affordability and stability. Even though food is recognized as a universal human right due to its central role in human development, it is currently unmet for billions of people in the world. The state of food and nutrition insecurity is a daily experience in many parts of developing countries, with most countries of Africa being victims of the situation. From the above definition, the United Nations Steering Committee on Nutrition opined that the link of food sufficiency and nutrition status of the consumer should be clearly brought out whenever the subject of food security is discussed. This is because when we consume food, it is supposed to supply the right nutrients in the proportions and form that the body needs for optimal metabolic, physical and physiological functioning. Thus the improved definition that brings out both aspects includes: "access by all people, at all times, by any physical, social and economic means to food that is consumed in adequate quantity and quality, to be able to meet their dietary preferences and needs, and is supported by a sanitary environment, where access to health services and care is assured in order for the consumer to live a healthy and active lifestyle". It therefore follows that any discussion on food and nutrition security, should consider physical access, availability, affordability, adequacy, quality and stability of the food supply. Quality in this respect encompasses not only physical fitness for purpose of the food item, but its being safe and in the form expected for it to be acceptable to the consumer [2]. The food consumed must meet the quality and quantity requirements of age, gender, occupation and health status of the consumer [3]. Adequate and proper nutritional quality of the food supply is an essential prerequisite for maintaining good health status. The critical role nutrition plays in health and human development, warrants greater commitment to the attainment of good nutritional status. The member states of the East African Community (EAC) have ratified a wide range of international covenants and committed themselves to ending hunger and malnutrition among their populations. Building on these commitments, the current article examines the status and prospects for Food and Nutrition Security in the Member States of the East African Community (EAC). It discusses some basic facts of the Region and delves into the subject matter of the thesis, with the situation in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, being examined in some detail. The current chapter also provides a set of recommendations for improving the food and nutri-

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tion security situation in the future for each country.

The EAC existed as an important trading block up until its break up in 1977 (it was then made up of Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika-i.e., Tanzania, but without Zanzibar, Pemba and the smaller Islands in the Indian Ocean); It was revived on 30th November 1999, but the instruments for its re-establishment came into effect in 2000. It has a larger country composition, comprising of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan. On 14th June 2019, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) requested to join the trading bloc, but the request is yet to be discussed and determined. The region has a current population of over 150 million people, but is likely to surpass 240 million, if the DRC is formally admitted as a member. The EAC as currently constituted is made up of over 200 ethnic

groups. The current 6 member states of the EAC appear in **Figure 1**.

**1.2 The East African community**

#### *1.2.1 Geography of the region*

This part of the continent is composed mainly of plateaus, most of the highest elevations on the African continent and the largest lakes in Africa. In Kenya and parts of Tanzania, the highest elevations in the highlands reach as high as 2000–3000 feet above the mean sea level. The twin Rift Valley Systems run across the Region. The Great or Eastern Rift Valley runs from the Red Sea down through Ethiopia and Kenya going downward towards Tanzania, where the faulting activity created Lake Turkana and Tanganyika. The Western Rift System curves around western Uganda and Tanzania and includes Lake Victoria, the largest tropical lake and the largest and second largest fresh water lake in Africa and the World by surface area, respectively. Africa's highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro stands on the edge of the Great Rift Valley at above 19,340 feet (5895 metres above sea level) in northeastern Tanzania. Rwanda and Burundi sit on the edge of the western side of the Western Rift System and are a conflagration of hills and valleys that mesh into the fertile tropical forests of the DRC in the west. South Sudan sits between the dry northern Kenya plains, the semi-arid eastern Uganda and western Ethiopia. South Sudan is made up of tropical forests, swamps and grassland. The Imatong Mountains contain South Sudan's highest point, Mount Kinyeti at 10,456 feet above sea level.

#### *1.2.2 Regional weather and vegetation*

The climate of the Region is generally tropical, but the high temperatures are tempered by the high elevations, the valleys and hills of Rwanda, Burundi and western Uganda. Precipitation depends on altitude, with western Kenya, South Sudan, most of Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi receiving high amounts of rainfall. Northern Kenya and the Karamoja Region of Uganda, receive low amounts of rainfall ranging from 5 to 40 inches annually, though Karamoja receives slightly hjgher than 40 inches annually. These low rainfall areas have low food production

potential and are associated with high poverty indices and therefore poor food and nutrition security. Nomadic pastoralism based on livestock keeping is the major mode of production and livelihood in these semi-arid areas. The region's vegetation is composed of thick woodlands and grassland in the high and wetter elevations, to scanty, thorny shrub and vegetation to desert terrain in the arid and semi-arid plains, respectively. South Sudan is hot with seasonal rainfall as influenced by the annual shift of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone. Rainfall is heaviest in the southern highlands and reduces towards the north as it merges into the Republic of Sudan.

This chapter examines the economic, food and nutrition security situation in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. For each country, some recommendations that are likely to improve food and nutrition security in the long-term are provided.
