A workshop was held from April 11th to 14th, 2023, at the East Mark Hotel in Nakuru County to finalize the Kisumu County Food System Strategy (2023-2027). Organized by the Technical Working Group (TWG), with YPARD-Kenya represented by its Country Representative, the event marked the culmination of the strategy development process, involving key assessments and planning.
The Kisumu County Food System Strategy development began with a comprehensive food systems assessment that provided a baseline and identified challenges categorized into thematic areas. A Technical Working Group was formed to steer the strategy, working in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Practical Action.
The vision of the Kisumu County Food System Strategy is to create an innovative and sustainable food system within the county. The mission is to support this sustainable food system through integrated actions within a favorable policy environment. The strategy aims to promote an efficient food system that ensures equitable access to healthy food while fostering environmental and economic benefits.
The core values guiding this strategy include food sovereignty, quality, and health, ensuring that all people have access to high-quality, nutritious food and the right to define their own food systems. Justice and equity are also emphasized, promoting transparency and accountability along the entire value chain and ensuring fair treatment and opportunities for all, including marginalized groups. Fair and inclusive governance is critical, with a focus on small-scale producers' access to resources and co-responsibility among local stakeholders. The strategy also prioritizes empowerment, creativity, and collaboration to drive innovation and social entrepreneurship, alongside agroecology and low-impact practices that protect the environment. Lastly, the strategy advocates for **environmental conservation**, aiming to reduce pollution, decarbonize, and optimize resource use in food production and consumption.
The Kisumu County Food System Strategy addresses several critical thematic areas essential for developing a sustainable food system. In terms of food system governance, the strategy recognizes the importance of key actors such as producers, distributors, and retailers in ensuring effective governance across the value chain. However, challenges such as weak governance structures, poor financial management, and limited budget allocations hinder effective implementation. The strategy emphasizes the need for diversified funding sources and enhanced coordination among stakeholders, particularly through formalizing bodies like the Food Liaison Advisory Group (FLAG). In the production and value addition sector, the strategy highlights the dominance of African indigenous vegetables and poultry, noting challenges like low farmer value capture and inconsistent food supply. The need for improved infrastructure, such as cold storage facilities and better transportation systems, is also crucial for supporting food production and distribution across Kisumu.
The strategy also tackles food loss and waste, climate change, and nutrition and food safety. It underscores the importance of reducing food waste at various points in the supply chain, from household levels to supermarkets, to improve food security and conserve resources. Climate change is recognized as a significant threat, with erratic weather patterns impacting agricultural practices and increasing food prices. To mitigate these effects, the strategy advocates for adopting adaptive agricultural practices and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Nutrition and food safety are equally prioritized, emphasizing the need for safe handling and storage practices to prevent foodborne illnesses and ensure that the food system supports public health. The strategy calls for comprehensive support for all actors along the food value chain, from providing subsidies to ensuring essential services, to promote a healthier and more resilient food system in Kisumu County.
The environmental scan assessed both the internal and external environments impacting Kisumu's food system. The internal assessment utilized a SWOT analysis, focusing on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to the implementing institution, FLAG. Key internal factors such as skills, systems, organizational structure, strategy, and shared values were examined.
The external environment was analyzed through a P-PESTEL analysis, which evaluated political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors. Additionally, a stakeholder analysis was conducted to understand the influence of various players on the strategy's implementation.
The workshop included a risk analysis within the food system, with proposed mitigation measures to be adopted by various stakeholders across different value chains. A report on public participation was also discussed, highlighting public expectations and feedback from previous sessions. Participants were grouped to revisit and refine this public input, particularly concerning the structuring of the Food Liaison Advisory Group (FLAG) as a formal and legally recognized body. The TWG, along with FLAG and other stakeholders, worked on these aspects as well as the status of the Kisumu Agriculture Facility Improvement Financing Bill 2023.
The workshop highlighted several strengths within the county’s food system, including the active engagement of key institutions in food systems governance and efforts to align county policies with national legislation. However, the large number of stakeholders in the sector has led to conflicting interests in policy implementation, posing a challenge to the strategy’s success.
This workshop was a crucial step in finalizing the Kisumu County Food System Strategy, ensuring it is well-informed by a thorough analysis of the county's internal and external environments and ready for implementation over the next five years.
County Government of Kisumu has various administration structures and departments to ensure effective service delivery namely:
To ensure prudent and efficient utilization of resources the following measures are to be implemented: -
Kisumu Food system strategy (2023-2027) is the first document and as such will provide a baseline for successive business process Re-engineering (BPR).
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