The country co-ordinator, John Omiti, liaised with researchers and communications officer to harmonize and schedule meetings to facilitate (i) closer linkages amongdifferent themes, (ii) share research findings and plan media briefings, (iii) hold joint round-table meetings or workshops. During the year, one member re-located from the UK to Kenya to facilitate FAC communication activities in the East African region.
The country co-ordinator held discussions with a number meetings with senior officials of various ministries involved in agriculture and rural development in Kenya (Ministries of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Environment & Natural Resources, and Water & Irrigation, Lands, etc.). The issues under discussion included:
- Structural Transformation: Understanding the structural changes in the agricultural sector that have a bearing on food production, enterprise mix, employment trends, etc. This work has interested a number of organisations including the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET, Accra), African Growth Institute (AGI, Brookins Institute, Washington).
- Global Food & Financial Crisis: The discussions included exploring the likely impacts of global food crisis on the dominant sectors that are likely to be affected (e.g., cereals such as wheat and rice, imports such as fertilizer) and variations in exchange rate would bear major significance. Some of the merging messages arising from the global financial meltdown demand informed policy options to deal with changes in global demand of Kenya’s agricultural exports (e.g. horticulture, flowers), reduced remittances, possibility of influx of returnees, etc.
- Legal and institutional reforms in the agricultural sector. This is an on-going engagement to review and update the various legislations governing the agricultural sector, with the Agricultural Sector Co-ordination Unit (ASCU) and consultancy firms such as Mohammed & Muigai Associates.
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