Kenya is working to improve diet quality and address the growing burden of poor nutrition, as challenges related to child undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight continue to overlap. While the country has made progress in some areas, unhealthy diets and uneven access to nutritious foods remain significant public health concerns, with implications for both health and economic development. Nutrition has become an increasingly important part of Kenya’s broader development agenda, and the Ministry of Health has been advancing food policy action.
Kenya has recently taken a major step toward strengthening its food environment and reducing diet-related noncommunicable diseases, through the adoption of the Kenya Nutrient Profile Model (KNPM). The KNPM will help guide policies such as front-of-package warning labels and restrictions on the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children, building on civil society advocacy and policymaking. We are working with the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) to provide technical support to the Ministry of Health to develop these policies. Together, we are helping strengthen the technical and evidence foundation for policies that protect the population and promote healthier diets.
Policy Research
In-Country Research Partner
In-Country Team Leads
- Shukri F Mohamed - Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center
- Gershim Asiki - Head of Chronic Disease Management, African Population and Health Research Center
GFRP Team Leads
Resources
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This fact sheet presents fiscal policy options to improve access to and demand for healthy, whole and minimally processed foods. This includes a range of demand-side policies to increase consumer purchasing power and supply-side policies to increase the availability of healthy foods. Policy and program examples and evaluations are included from countries around the world, with a focus on low- and middle-income settings. -
The Kenyan and other nutrient profiling models
Kenya’s Nutrient Profile Model, published in July 2025, was adapted from the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO) model. The Kenyan model is intended to establish criteria for restricting marketing food products to children and applying front-of-package warning labels to assist consumers in identifying products containing excess total fat, saturated fat, total sugar, and sodium. This brief reports on how feasibly and comprehensively the Kenyan nutrient profile model identifies products of concern compared to other nutrient profile models under consideration in the African region.