Table 4 Summary of results from content analysis

Running out of food or worrying about food running out

Participants generally mentioned that often at times they run out of food or are worried that they will run out of food.

“In many instances, I am worried that I may not be able to provide food for my family. At times, I even go away from home, until am able to guarantee that there will be food for my household” (Male FGD, 2022).

“Providing sufficient food for our households on a daily basis has become a challenge since most for the times we depend on casual jobs, “vibarua,” which are hard to come by these days” (Female FGD, 2022).

Frequency of occurrence of worry or running out of food

Participants observed that there are specific times when they run out of food or worry that food will not be enough for the family. This was mainly dependent on type of livelihood the participants engaged in. For those in salaried employment, the third and fourth weeks were the critical times when there was worry of running out of food. For those in contractual/casual employment, worry was more apparent when they were not engaged in any contract or casual labour.

“Not having a stable job (salaried employment) means that I will only have sustained food access when I get contractual jobs, which are not guaranteed” (Male FGD, 2022).

“Not so many times do we run out or worry about running out of food, it happens once in a while because we have foods such as cassava, which save the situation most of the times” (Female FGD, 2022).

Coping strategies/options

Participants reported adopting different coping strategies in the event that they lack food such as reducing size of meals, eating cheaper foods, watering down ingredients, selling household assets, and borrowing.

“We eat what we never used to eat before and at times you abscond your duty as a provider and leave the dependents to borrow from neighbours or survive from the little that is available in the kitchen garden” (Male FGD, 2022).

“We serve children first, and serve less food to yourself, but more for the father so that he gets energy to go and look for more food for next days” (Female FGD, 2022).

Indigenous food production

Most of the participants reported that they produce different types of indigenous foods, but production was not fully adequate: not available in all seasons.

“We have accepted the transition to “modern day foods” because we have been made to believe that they have good nutrition value and are profitable when sold in the market” (Female FGD, 2022).

“The farms are small and end up exhausting nutrients in the soil because they are cultivated every season” (Male FGD, 2022).

Food security status of the community and evidence thereof

Most of the KII’s reported that there is a general lack of sustained access to safe, sufficient, and healthy food by the community members.

“Sustained access to food in sufficient quantity and of adequate quality is not guaranteed for a significant proportion of the rural community households. This is because there are limited livelihood opportunities in the rural set up when compared to urban set ups” (KII₃, 2022).

“A common example of evidence of limited food access is the consumption of less-preferred (unacceptable) such as mumi and akoko (type of fishes), which are not acceptable amongst Adventists and Nomiya religious adherents” (KII₂, 2022).

Women and child nutrition issues within the community

KII’s observed that maternal and infant child issues have not been accorded the attention it deserves and players in various sectors including the national and county governments, as well as the non-governmental sector should take lead in advocating and empowering the community of these issues

“Different existing dynamics points to little consideration of mother and child issues. As an example, a daughter-in-law is not allowed to bring harvest to the household in the absence of the mother-in-law. Such affect intra-household food distribution: hence, rendering women and other family members, especially children vulnerable to food insecurity” (KII₄, 2022).