Focus on school meals and self-sufficiency as Swedish delegation visits Kenya

The School Meals Coalition is working for all children to have access to nutritious school meals by 2030. Various countries’ efforts were discussed and strategic priorities for the coming years were announced at the high-level meeting, which was opened by President of the Republic of Kenya HE Dr William Samoei Ruto.

– These have been a very rewarding few days, and the meeting kept a clear and constructive focus on our common goal for all children to get a meal at school. Kenya has a growing population, which means that the demand for food, drinking water and sanitary supplies is continually increasing, says Mr Ericsson.

During the visit, Mr Ericsson visited Tetra Pak’s production facilities and got an overview of how they work to ensure that children receive better food in school – efforts that have been ongoing since the 1970s.

Sweden is an active and important development partner within the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which has a number of programmes in Kenya. One of the country’s challenges for the livestock sector is access to feed, which is why FAO has developed a project aiming to support young farmers in their commercial feed production. The trip included a visit to Olteyan Youth Help Group, which consists of more than 30 young farmers who have received training from FAO in several stages of the feed chain, including management of feed crops, access to markets and commercial activities in the agricultural sector.

Swedish-Kenyan cooperation

Access to drinking water and sanitary supplies is another challenge in Kenya – only 25 per cent of people have access to fresh water and soap at home. Mr Ericsson visited Mukuru, an informal settlement where UNICEF has an ongoing project through Fresh Life, a civil society organisation. The project provides sewage-free sanitation solutions, partly financed by the Swedish Embassy and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

During the trip, Mr Ericsson also met with Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Forestry Gitonga Mugambi to discuss expanded cooperation on sustainable use of wood and wood construction, an area in which Sweden has scaled up its cooperation with Kenya over the past year. Sweden’s Ambassador to Kenya Caroline Vicini took part in the meeting as well.

– I met with many young Kenyans who have been on forestry-related study visits to Sweden and got to hear about their commitment to applying this knowledge to develop Kenyan forestry. Innovative solutions and initiatives that contribute to the country’s self-sufficiency and basic social structure are therefore crucial. Sweden’s role in the UN and through other initiatives is important, and I’m glad that Swedish-Kenyan cooperation has been strengthened in recent years, says Mr Ericsson.