Kenya has joined the rest of the world in committing to address food and nutrition insecurity to end hunger by the year 2030.
The Kenyan government together with other sixty nations have pledged to take immediate action to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in order to address food insecurity.
This was resolved during the 2023 Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) that was held in Berlin, Germany.
Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi, committed to promote sustainable and resilient food systems by enabling the agricultural and food sectors to produce sustainably, close the inequality gap and recover quickly from crises.
Linturi is leading the Kenyan delegation to the Germany global forum.
“We recognise that agriculture is economically and socially viable and provides a decent income and decent working conditions for farmers and rural communities. Particular attention needs to be given to smallholders, women, youth and people in vulnerable and marginalised groups in order to achieve food security,” Linturi said.
Linturi said his Ministry will engage with fellow Agriculture Ministers across the globe to ensure that food is available, accessible, affordable, safe and nutritious for all.
At least sixty four nations participated in the annual global Agriculture Ministers’ Conference whose theme was “Food Systems Transformation: A Worldwide Response to Multiple Crises”.
The conference focuses on the transformation of agrifood systems as a means of responding to the multiple crises facing global food security.
These include climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
The CS promised that his ministry will strive to ensure the youth in rural areas are motivated to practice agriculture as a way of boosting food production in rural areas.
“In line with the 2023 global agriculture Ministers conference, my Ministry will initiate strategies to attract the youth to join farming across the country,” Linturi said.
He also assured farmers that his Ministry will increase farmers’ knowledge and adoption of an integrated soil fertility management and foster soil health to boost food production.
“The Kenyan government is already distributing subsidized fertilizer to farmers and we expect this to boost our yields when our farmers harvest their crops,” he added.
This can reduce input costs through the effective and 177 sustainable use of mineral and organic fertilisers and through cropping practices such as 178 catch crops.
We commit to reduce overuse, increase efficiency and improve the 179 environmental footprint in the use of all fertilisers.
The Agriculture Ministers from across the world were all in concurrence on the importance of taking immediate action to accelerate and intensify common efforts to address the current food crisis in order to achieve 2030 Agenda on SDGs.
Key issues in the resolutions include; creating sustainable and resilient food systems, fostering climate-friendly food systems, promoting the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and improving collaboration for sustainable global food systems.
Germany Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Cem Özdemir who read the resolutions underscored the importance of taking action to address the current food crisis in order to achieve food and nutrition security.
“We underscore the importance of taking action to address the current food crisis to achieve SDGs through sustainable food systems. As discussed during the UN Food Systems Summit, this should be done in a holistic and integrated way. Having only seven years left to implement the 2030 Agenda, we will accelerate and intensify our common efforts,” Özdemir said.
The Agriculture Ministers also pledged to promote energy-efficient agriculture and food systems and an urgent need to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and environmental degradation by 2030.
Özdemir added that the Ministers have promised to provide farmers and pastoralists with locally adapted, climate-resilient propagating material and animal breeds and sustainably managed landscapes for improved resilience and biodiversity conservation.
Kenyan Ambassador to Germany Tom Amolo, who was also present, hailed the Kenya and Germany relations in various sectors.
“Kenya and Germany will celebrate sixty years of cooperation in various sectors. Currently, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development supports Kenya primarily in the areas of Agriculture and Rural Development, Energy, Transport and Climate Change and Sustainable Economic Development,” Amolo stated.
Linturi also held talks with Germany State Secretary for the Ministry of Economic and Development Cooperation, Baerbel Kofler and Head of German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), Cristel Weller-Molongua.
He also met the Chairperson parliamentary committee on food and Agriculture in Germany, Hermann Farber, the President of German-Africa Foundation, Uschi Eid among others.
