Africa-Press – Kenya. Kenya is hosting 35 countries to address food security and end poverty through social protection.
The current global challenges like Covid-19, drought and the Russia/Ukraine crisis have presented a challenge in ensuring food security and ending poverty.
The United Nations- Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said that this has brought to the fore the important role of social protection to end poverty and reduce social exclusion of such vulnerable groups.
To address this, FAO has brought together Social Protection Focal Points and specialists from 35 countries in Africa.
The three-day workshop held from June 27-29 is seeking to increase awareness on regional priorities and initiatives on social protection, share country experiences and best practices as well as key knowledge products/tools on social protection.
Carla Mucavi, FAO Representative in Kenya said they have collaborated with the Government on several programmes related to the extension of social protection for increased economic inclusion for the poorest and vulnerable households in the rural economy.
She said populations in several African countries are facing vulnerabilities due to climate and epidemics, food insecurity and conflicts.
“In Kenya it is estimated that 4.1 million most of them in the ASALs counties are currently facing food insecurity and in dire need for social protection,” she said.
Mucavi added that during the workshop, it was noted that coverage of poor and vulnerable population by existing social protection systems especially those in the rural areas remains low. This low coverage exposes them to many shocks that threaten their existence.
“Available evidence shows that adequate social protection has the potential to promote inclusive growth and increases productivity and employability,” she said.
FAO Social Protection Programme Lead for Africa Bintia Stephen-Tchicacya said; “We intend to equip the social protection focal persons in their respective countries to support FAO’s work with the member States to increase their understanding of specific vulnerabilities of different categories of rural populations, the barriers they face in accessing social protection.”
Jane Muyanga who represented the Principal Secretary of State Department for Social Protection, Senior Citizenship Affairs, and Special Programmes in Kenya thanked FAO and partners for the continued support, and affirmed that this training will help to optimise regional and national social protection systems and tools.
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