Yesterday morning, the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry assented and entered into a partnership to support the enhancement of food systems in the Arid and Semi Arid Regions in Kenya in a partnership with the World Food Programme.

The key areas identified for immediate joint activities and implementation include:

1.Farm to Market Alliance(Regional program in 7 countries that includes Bayer, AGRA & Rabobank)
▪︎Linking smallholders farmers to market.
▪︎ Investments in Climate Resilience Agriculture
▪︎Farmer Service Center-that currently supports 250,000 smallholder farmers in sorghum, maize, potatoes, and pulses value chains.
▪︎Support of farmers with inputs, finance, and access to markets
2.Innovation
▪︎County Innovation Hubs
▪︎Youth Innovation Challenge
▪︎ Climate smart agriculture
3.Climate and Food Systems Resilience
▪︎Post harvest loss management by providing cold storage solutions to producers of fresh produce
▪︎Technical support provided to Honey value chains(Bee-keeping)
▪︎Ecosystem restoration (Green solutions)

The partnership and collaboration was formalized through a Letter of Intent (LOI) joint signing ceremony between the Chamber President, Dr. Erick Rutto and the Representative and Country Director, WFP Kenya Office,Lauren Landis.

Present in the meeting was Federico Sartori,Head of Innovation, WFP, Lucy Muchoki Director Partnerships &Programmes KNCCI ,Chairman Kajiado KNCCI, Joseph Ntele and technical teams from WFP and KNCCI