Maureen Muketha is a Kenyan nutritionist and founder of social enterprise, Tule Vyema (meaning ‘Let’s eat right’ in Swahili). She is an advocate for UN Sustainable Development Goal #2 (#Zero Hunger), a member of the leadership team for UN Food Systems Summit Action Track 1 (Ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all) and a youth leader of #Act4Food #Act4Change, a global youth-led movement calling for youth to pledge action to combat hunger, improve health, and heal the planet.
Muketha is also the first person to refer to me as “Daph” right off the bat— and I am enthused and uplifted, but not at all surprised, by her comfort and confidence— having already witnessed her assertively initiate a radical call to action among the world’s 1.8 billion young people for meaningful participation in global food systems change.
In Muketha’s home country of Kenya, more than 80 percent of farmers are small-scale and women. Despite being on course to meet four of the five World Health Assembly nutrition targets, a recent report from the Kenya Food Security Steering Group reveals that at least 1.4 million of the country’s population of 45.5 million people is facing acute hunger, with 4.2% of children acutely malnourished and 26.2% of children chronically malnourished (Action for Hunger). Yet only 4 per cent of Kenya’s annual budget is allocated to agriculture.
To this end, Tule Vyema, Muketha’s social enterprise works to eliminate malnutrition in local communities by raising awareness of proper feeding practices.