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The PM lauded the Prince of Wales International Sustainability Unit for its past involvement in development in the country/FILE

Kenya

Prince Charles’ trust seeks food security in Kenya

The PM lauded the Prince of Wales International Sustainability Unit for its past involvement in development in the country/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 15 – The Prince of Wales’ International Sustainability Unit has launched an initiative aimed at ensuring food security in Kenya at all times.

Making the announcement in his office on Friday, Prime Minister Raila Odinga said the initiative, called Economic Review of Food Security, aims at projecting the gap between food supply and how to address situations arising when supply is exposed to shocks.

“It will for instance look at whether food supply gaps would widen if water was depleted and what policy action would be taken to contain such vulnerability,” he said.

Odinga who chaired an inter-ministerial committee formed to work with the unit said there was need to put in place an appropriate structure that will ensure the success of the initiative that brings together matters of environmental conservation, energy, agriculture and water among others.

The PM lauded the Prince of Wales International Sustainability Unit for its past involvement in development in the country, noting it was instrumental in the reclamation of Lake Naivasha which was chocking from pollution by the nearby flower farms, industries and from domestic effluence.

He pointed out that through the ‘Imarisha Lake Naivasha Trust’ the Prince of Wales International Sustainability Unit in liaison with government agencies had checked the discharge of raw sewage and dangerous chemicals into the lake that was killing aquatic life including fish.

Odinga recalled that the trust was born out of his meeting with Prince Charles in Oslo, Sweden in 2010 when the prince expressed his desire to uplift environmental conservation in Kenya and chose Lake Naivasha as his entry point.

He said: “At a subsequent dinner hosted by the prince and attended by international corporations one million dollars was raised which went towards the realisation of this endeavour.”

Graham Wyanne , a senior advisor of the Prince of Wales International Sustainability Unit, called for a multi-sectoral approach in formulating policies that will ensure availability of food at all times irrespective of the weather.

He outlined three issues that must be taken into account when addressing food security saying attention must be paid to climate change, population and the changing diets of the people.

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Wyanne observed that Kenya through the PM’s office was one of the few countries that was working with the unit to ensure food sustainability adding there was need for concerned ministries and agencies not to work in isolation when dealing with issues of food security.

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