Kenya Food Fortification Summit to take stock of progress
Sponsored by Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Prof Daniel Sila of JKUAT at the university’s food fortification lab during a visit by a team from the EU Delegation to Kenya. The team was led by Ms Myra Bernardi (left), the Head of Section, Agriculture, Job Creation and Resilience.
The second Kenya Food Fortification Summit will be held on June 29-30, 2021. Stakeholders will take stock and discuss the milestones gained since the first summit, held in 2018.
The summit, to run under the theme, “Creating an Enabling Environment for Food Fortification in Kenya”, will assess the progress made in relation to the challenges that were highlighted in 2018.
It is organised by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the European Union, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), and Nutrition International. Participants are expected come from government, research institutions, development partners, millers, civil society organisations (CSOs) and the private sector.
According to the JKUAT EU Funded Food Fortification Project Coordinator, Prof Daniel Sila, significant progress has been made in Kenya towards the achievement of some of the World Health Assembly 2025 targets, including reducing childhood stunting.
“Staple food fortification has demonstrably increased the availability of micronutrients essential to health and development in the diets of people across the globe,” says Prof Sila, adding that the summit will provide a platform where the stakeholders can build on food fortification milestones gained and increase the uptake of fortification roles in the counties.
The two-day summit will also discuss and launch food fortification products such as a food fortification reporting system and database; and progress report on food fortification in Kenya. The summit will further see the awarding of best performing industries in food fortification, and conclude with commitments to food fortification and a call to action.
Prof Sila says the summit offers an opportunity to have an engagement with government, donors, CSOs, and private sector players to secure a fortification commitment at the United Nations Food System Summit (FSS) and the Nutrition Growth Summit (N4G) to be held in September and December this year respectively.
“Direct engagements between government, food industry and retail sector leaders are needed to encourage national FSS and N4G commitments on staple food fortification,” Prof Sila stresses.
The FSS and N4G seek to increase support for staple food fortification and to secure new pledges and commitments from governments, donors, and the private sector to support and market quality fortified foods.
The European Union has funded Kenya’s efforts to the tune of Ksh350 million, to fortify staple foods and improve the health and nutritional status of the poor and vulnerable groups.
The “Strengthening the Kenya National Food Fortification Programme” is being implemented by the Ministry of Health, JKUAT and other partners drawn from both public and private sectors.
The Programme has established a food fortification reference laboratory at JKUAT to improve local capacity to monitor and evaluate the level of compliance of different fortified food products to the national standards.
For more information about the summit, contact JKUAT Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Dr Michael Hindzano Ngonyo, via [email protected] /+254722866191
