Jumuiya Women Fund (JWF) and Equality Fund have launched the Food, Livelihoods, and Nutrition Project (FLN), targeting Persons with disabilities, women, and children.
According to news reports by KNA, the initiative will help the aforementioned groups to access more sustainable, inclusive food systems and increase resilience to climate change.
Three hundred (300) most vulnerable households in 6 counties-Uasin Gishu, Kericho, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, Homa Bay, and Busia are set to benefit.
The selected counties according to the chairperson of Jumuiya Women Fund, Winnie Kiptoo, suffer food insecurity due to poor agricultural practices, worsened by unpredictable rain and frequent drought and low-income levels which limit access to agricultural inputs.
The project as indicated in the news report will focus on providing climate-smart agricultural practices and changing nutrition to improve local food security and sustainable livelihoods.
It will also provide some agricultural resources for the 300 selected households, such as hybrid vegetables and maize seeds.
“The selected households will receive a monthly cash transfer of Sh6,000 for a period of 6 months and train 100 pilot households on climate-smart agriculture and practices, “Kiptoo noted
Kiptoo said the FNL project being a short-term emergency intervention, is designed to support the selected households headed by women and families of PWDS with relevant knowledge and skills to enable them to become drivers of their own social and economic transformation of their livelihoods.
“The current droughts and unpredicted rains have been hurting the global economy through rising agricultural and food prices, which has been affecting farmers and consumers, especially the poor communities,” Kiptoo said.
“Currently Kenya’s national drought appeal from multi-lateral and Bi-lateral agencies represent only 22% of determined needs with the current funding gap 0f 78% therefore through JWF it will partly contribute to addressing the determined needs of the people affected by food insecurity,” she revealed.
She further noted that the food insecurity challenge was still broad and more effort both locally and globally is needed to mobilize finances and material resources to tackle the menace in vulnerable populations.
“I, therefore, call upon our stakeholders to continue rallying and support for a comprehensive response not only to cushion immediate food insecurity but to put in more investments to implement long-term measures for sustainable livelihood and climate change mitigation and adaptation,” she added.
In her remarks, Elizabeth Obanda, Women Economic Empowerment -UN Women said that to enhance the women farmers they should also be trained in agri-business, improvement of post-harvest storage to avoid losses, and be provided with support to market linkages.
“To decrease the vulnerability of these communities, the project should target to increase sensitization on agroforestry as it can address multiple challenges that the farmers face and foster their greater resilience through economic and environmental diversification, “she noted.
SOURCE; KNA’S JUDY TOO