Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development Mithika Linturi has called for urgency in response to the climate crisis faced during the ongoing United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Council meeting in Rome, Italy.
The International Summit themed to focus on global food security, aims at engaging the international community in defeating hunger and malnutrition by transforming agriculture to face shifts in climatic conditions.
“We must take urgent measures to combat climate change because the extreme climate change events being witnessed globally have compromised food security even in some parts of the developed world economies. Development partners should work with governments to address the food insecurity issue that’s affecting millions of people worldwide,” said Linturi.
Linturi assured of the Kenyan Governments resolution to assist the citizens to overcome hunger by all means necessary hence calling for more affordable, accessible, and qualitative measures.
Faced with the drought the CS revealed some of the measures the government has put in place to assist deal with the situation at hand and prevent more lives from starvation dangers.
“As part of the short-term response to the ongoing drought, my ministry has embarked on distribution of relief supplies and cash transfers to 4.5 million Kenyans who are affected by drought in 23 arid and semi-arid counties,” he added while addressing the global meeting.
“My ministry will work closely with FAO a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and other strategic partners as we implement long-term measures to combat the prolonged drought that has led to the loss of lives and livestock,” added the Cabinet Secretary.
Emphasizing how essential it is for stakeholders to lower the cost of inputs, avail affordable financing, and secure markets for agricultural produce and products as a way of boosting food security and empowering local farmers.
Citing how through climate-smart farming methods and technology there will be an increased chance of dealing with the food crisis.
“If we are to address food challenges expeditiously then efficiency and effectiveness must be the hallmark of our agri-food systems. The use of technology is key to achieving efficiency, safety, transparency, and avoiding waste,” he said.
