Mashariki Summit 2021: Pathways to address food and nutrition security in Kenya and Tanzania in COVID Times
Did you know that world hunger increased in 2020 under the shadow of the COVID-19? In Kenya, around 1.8 million people, about 3% of the Kenyan population, were estimated to be food insecure between October and December 2020. Globally, close to 300 million people in the African continent go to bed hungry every night. This is simply unacceptable!
Article is written by Nancy Onyango
Against this backdrop, The Netherlands Alumni Association of Kenya (NAAK) and the Netherlands Alumni Association of Tanzania (NAAT) hosted the inaugural edition of Mashariki Summit 2021 from September 21 to 23. The summit was dedicated to key emerging questions linking the COVID-19 to agriculture, food, nutrition, and security in Kenya and Tanzania. The virtual summit titled “Pathways to addressing food security and improved nutrition in Kenya and Tanzania during COVID Times” was a collaborative forum targeting stakeholders passionate about global food and nutrition security.
UN Food Systems Summit 2021
Mashariki Summit 2021 was also a UN Food System Summit dialogue event, an important opportunity for Kenyan and Tanzanian alumni in agriculture, food nutrition and security to have a seat at the table during the milestone global event.
The UN Food Systems summit was convened by The UN Secretary-General António Guterres on September 23 as part of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The Summit launched bold new actions to deliver progress on all 17 SDGs, each of which relies to some degree on healthier, more sustainable and equitable food systems.
Virtual Participation from Key Stakeholders in the Agriculture Sector
Mashariki Summit 2021 featured virtual participation from key stakeholders in the sector such as the Netherlands alumni in Kenya and Tanzania from the Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP) and Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP), policymakers, government representatives, researchers, students, the agribusiness community and the media. The summit featured 20 speakers and attracted over 500 participants during the three days.
September 21, was the first day of the summit, dedicated to the agriculture sector in Kenya. Notable speakers included Prof. Hamadi Boga, the Principal Secretary in Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation. Prof. Ruth Oniang’o from Rural Outreach Africa, Prof. Julius Huho, Dean of Students at Garissa University and Dr Lusike Wasilwa from Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO).
The Kenyan Ambassador to the Netherlands, H.E Maarten Brouwer presented opening remarks that underscored the importance of agriculture as an engine for growth.
''The role of women and youth in the agricultural and enhancing interventions in food security cannot be overemphasised,” says ambassador H.E. Maarten Brouwer during his opening remarks.
The second day, September 22, was focused on food security in Tanzania. Distinguished speakers included: Dr. Honest Kessy, Director of Food Security – Ministry of Agriculture, renowned Tanzanian agripreneur, Hadija Jabir and Ndeoya Mungure from the Tanzania Horticulture Association.
Day three, September 23, was a career mentorship session for alumni that included talks and speed mentorship sessions with experts in agriculture development. Notable speakers included OKP alumni, Dr. Xolile Mkhize, Senior Lecturer at the Mangosuthu University of Technology in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa and Revelian S. Ngaiza, Policy advisor at the Ministry of Agriculture in Tanzania.
The summit also featured presentations from food system innovators, notably alumni and businesses in Kenya and Tanzania. Notable presenters included Mr Clement Tulezi from The Kenyan Flower Council, Rose Anne Mwangi from the Insectary (Kenya) and Dr. Amani Makota, National Council for Technical Education (Tanzania).
Continued Advocacy campaign
A Podcast series featuring food security champions from the Kenyan and Tanzania alumni was produced and shared widely on social media platforms as part of the advocacy campaign to profile the inaugural event.
Mashariki Summit was a runaway success. The summit achieved its objective of raising awareness and elevating the global discussion about food production, food waste and how reforming our food systems can help end hunger by 2030.
Moving forward, NAAK and NAAT have pledged to work together in the coming years to transform the way East Africa produces, consumes and thinks about food. Stay tuned for Mashariki Summit 2022.
For more information about NAAK, visit www.naakenya.org. For more information about NAAT, please email via alumninaat@gmail.com. In case of questions for the Agricultural Counsellor feel free to contact us via nai-lnv@minbuza.nl. For the latest updates follow us on twitter @NLAgriKenya or register for our newsletter by sending an email.