J1257N Tables of Joy

The Situation:

At Tables of Joy we are fighting passionately against food insecurity. Since the 1960s, food insecurity and poor health and nutrition have been significant challenges in Kenya. Due to inadequate food systems, droughts, rapid population growth and increasing food prices, severe food insecurity has risen in recent years. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2021), 28% of the population was severely food insecure, compared to 15% in 2015, while according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, a large majority of Kenya’s population are eating inadequate quantities of food and low-quality diets (KNBS, 2021). Statistics say that over 40% of the residents in the Mathare slums, a population of half a million people in an area of 3km2 radius, are food insecure.  

These statistics break our hearts. We know that in addition to the permanent physical impacts that food insecurity has on children, hungry stomachs can impact every area of daily life – from not being able to concentrate in school, to reduced emotional capacity and an increase in violence. This spreads to adults, too. We believe that if people have eaten, then health outcomes increase, the temptation to take drugs and drink alcohol reduces, and the motivation to find employment increases, therefore decreasing crime, gender-based violence and gang association. We believe that the core of a lot of concerns for the Mathare community can be combated through regular access to healthy and nutritious food. 

The Objectives:

1 - To establish a fully functioning and self-sustaining farm and rooftop hydroponic farming system to increase Joy Divine’s sustainability, reduce reliance on donor funding by 10%, increase the nutrition of Joy Divine’s beneficiaries by 15% and train our volunteers/staff to establish their own farming small scale farming systems over the next 3 years.

2- To provide emergency relief in the form of either hot meals or food hampers to 20 struggling families monthly, 800 street-connected young people monthly and 5000 school children daily in Mathare and to those affected by disasters.

3 - To establish a registered vocational training school where 30 teen mothers are trained and received a qualification, so they are able to pull themselves up and provide for their families, annually. In conjunction with a playgroup so their children can have a safe space to play and gain access to early literacy and numeracy skills.