Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua departed for Italy on Saturday night to attend a three-day high-level United Nations Food Systems Summit Stock-Taking in Rome.
He will be representing President William Ruto at the invitation of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
On Monday morning, Gachagua is scheduled to deliver the keynote address on Financing Food Systems, with a special focus on Kenya’s Food Systems Transformation Initiative.
The summit aims to assess the commitment of states, governments, and other stakeholders in allocating resources to combat hunger and malnutrition.
During the plenary session, Gachagua will highlight the progress made in Kenya’s school meals program, which currently benefits over 1.6 million pupils, especially in arid and semi-arid regions.
The program has proven to increase enrollment and retention of pupils while meeting their nutritional needs.
At the event, the Deputy President will also discuss measures to sustainably lower the cost of living, including subsidies for production, such as subsidizing fertilizers.
The Kenyan government aims to enhance food security while considering the challenges posed by climate change.
Gachagua will also engage with Kenyans living in Italy to understand their needs and explore opportunities for supporting diaspora investments back home through structured frameworks.
Diaspora remittances play a crucial role in Kenya’s economy, contributing significantly to foreign exchange reserves and currency stability.
On Tuesday morning, Gachagua will speak at a breakfast side meeting on homegrown sources of food and the school meals program.
The meeting, hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), aims to explore opportunities for countering climate change through structured contracting of farmers to produce food for schools.
