SOME 20 innovative enterprises have graduated from a pilot programme to tackle food loss and waste in Kenya.
The collaborative effort between the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute and the Food and Agriculture Organization ran from June 6, 2024, to February 2025 and sought to incubate commercially viable solutions for reducing food loss and waste.
The incubated enterprises came from a diverse array of sectors including fish, dairy, bananas, African leafy vegetables, potatoes, mangoes, tamarind, organic manure, and cloudbased solutions for value chains, as well as fleshed sweet potato.
By focusing on creating market-ready products and services, the programme aimed to provide sustainable solutions to food loss, a persistent problem for many developing countries, including Kenya.
The programme’s core objective was to provide incubation services to help businesses develop innovative products, services, or technologies that address food loss and waste.
Hamisi Williams, the assistant Fao representative for Kenya, addressing the graduation ceremony in Kisumu, emphasised the urgency of addressing food loss and waste.
He said food loss remains a significant challenge to Kenya’s food security, with nearly 30 per cent of the food produced in the country going to waste.
While this figure might seem small, Williams said it leads to food shortages, forcing the government to import food to bridge the gap.
“Food loss and waste not only affect food security but also economic stability,” Williams said.
“Fao, together with the government, has partnered to develop a national food loss management strategy thawill be implemented at the county level to support food systems in Kenya.”
Williams also supported the Warehouse Receipt System, an initiative designed to address post-harvest losses by providing farmers with secure storage options while helping them find markets for their products.
