Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.
CALL FOR PAPERS
NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY
Theme: Feeding Kenya 2015 and beyond - whose responsibility?
Kenya committed herself to the Millennium Development Goal (1) to eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger by 2015. Furthermore, the constitution of Kenya identifies the need
for access to food as a basic human right as outlined in article 43(1)(C) and as such every
person has the right to be free from hunger and to have adequate food of acceptable
quality. However, due to the rapidly growing population and impact of climate change,
the challenge of feeding the country is increasingly becoming a major concern. In
addition, food insecurity has been aggravated by a number of factors, including poor land
management practices , low agricultural productivity, over reliance on rainfed agriculture,
low mechanization, unexploited irrigation potential, climate variability and low access to
extension services. Other contributing factors include high and volatile commodity prices,
high post-harvest losses, inadequate targeted social protection programmes, insecurity,
and weak agriculture information and early warning systems.
Recent statistics indicate that an estimated 44% of the country’s population live below the
poverty line and about 7.5 million people are described as chronically food insecure out of
which about 1.5 million require food aid at any one time. During periods of shock such as
drought and floods, the number of people requiring food aid rises to between 2.5 to 3.5
million. On malnutrition, it is estimated that about 29 percent of children under five years
are stunted, 7 percent are wasted, while 16 percent are underweight. These figures are
five times higher than world malnutrition index for children under five.
In order to address food insecurity, the government together with stakeholders
developed a national food and nutrition security policy through a consultative process
which identified key issues affecting food and nutrition security in the country.
The conference therefore seeks to bring together producers, pastoralists, researchers,
extension agents, marketers, professionals from the academia, civil society, policy
makers, private sector and development partners to discuss the sub themes outlined
below;
Sub-theme 1: National food and nutrition Security in the wake of devolution
1
Sub-theme 2: Food and nutrition security in relation to youth,
agriculture and vulnerable groups.
women in
Sub-theme 3: Infrastructure and technology in supporting sustainable food
production, distribution, post harvest and marketing systems ;
Sub-theme 4: Research, academia and extension in food and nutrition security
Sub theme 5: Private Sector opportunities in food and nutrition security
Subtheme 6: Water and health in the quest for a food secure Kenya.
Sub theme 7: New challenges ; Environmental issues, climate smart technologies,
exploitation of Natural Resources; urbanization
Sub theme 8: The pricing regime for inputs, produce and products.
Sub theme 9: Social Protection, safety nets, targeted subsidies, vulnerability
reduction and insurance services.
The proposals will need to be aligned to one or a number of the above subthemes. Given
the increasing challenge of food insecurity, the presentation should take into
consideration a practical approach that is able to propel the country towards Zero
Hunger. Papers which offer pragmatic solutions will receive a higher rating.
The agriculture sector therefore wishes to invite interested individuals/groups to submit
papers to be presented in the forth coming National Conference on Food and Nutrition
Security scheduled for July 2015.
Requirements
1. A written proposal aligned to the theme “Feeding Kenya 2015 and beyond –
whose responsibility? The proposal should be not more than 3 pages.
2. The proposal should focus on one of the sub themes outlined above or bring out
dimensions of linkages to other areas.
3. The proposal should include an abstract outlining;
 Key paradigm shift approaches
 Expected quick win outputs
 Methodologies of addressing food and nutrition security at various
levels ( national and county)
 Examples of national, regional or global good practices worth
emulating
2
Submission
Persons/groups wishing to submit their proposals can do so via the following address.
Mail:
The Cabinet Secretary
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries
7th Floor, Kilimo House
P.O Box 30028-00100
NAIROBI
Email:
3