The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Nairobi City County Government (NCCG) and Nairobi County Assembly are stepping up efforts to put in place a Food Safety Policy to ensure all food supplied, processed, and distributed within Nairobi meets national and international safety standards.
The draft Nairobi County Food Safety Policy 2024-2030 addresses food safety hazards and aims to decrease foodborne illnesses by enhancing regulations across the food supply chain.
Implementing the Policy will enable NCCG to safeguard public health, foster sustainable development, and enhance trade.
Speaking in Mombasa during a consultative meeting with MCAs and NCCG officials GRAIN Country Director Ruth Okowa says they are advocating for improved nutrition for all stakeholders particularly the vulnerable including women and children.
She stated that they are drumming support with Nairobi MCAs to pass the draft food safety bill and policy, which is currently in the assembly.
“We are just encouraging them and putting the rationale behind the importance of food safety in our lives both at home, at the different markets, stalls and shops that we purchase our foods from,” said Okowa.
She divulged that the majority of children in Nairobi still suffer from diarrhea which pulls back the gains made in nutrition.
She linked the high cases of diarrhea to the way food is handled which allows pathogens to move into the food and make it unsafe.
“Having this policy and implementing it means that consumers will be having safe food and naturally with safe food nutrition will improve because there will be no diseases that take us back in the gains, we have made concerning food safety,” said the GRAIN Country Director.
In the capital city, she noted food consumption patterns are affected by food safety, affordability, and availability which are the main deterrents.
“As GAIN we did a study to find why most people in Nairobi are not eating vegetables and number one on the list is that they are not sure about the safety of the vegetables.
“That is a big issue for anybody eating food in Nairobi because there are also foods that are grown in areas that are not recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture and Health experts,” she stated.
The organization has programmes meant to improve the consumption of vegetables as according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, 2022 there are still high levels of micronutrient deficiencies in the country.
To improve on that, Okowa said apart from fortification they encourage the oral consumption of green leafy vegetables, especially for the vulnerable families.
“We work in the markets to ensure that we have the governance structure well in place, looking at the food storage at our markets to make sure there is no food loss,” she stated.
County Chief Officer of Medical Services Irene Muchoki said the bill and policy will ensure the City residents have safe, nutritious, and quality food from good sources to prevent food-borne illnesses.
“We have some challenges, especially when it comes to street food vendors who are making food that is not regulated, you may not know where the source is from, sometimes even controlling that is an issue,” said Muchoki.
“We are putting measures to be able to curb that and be able to guide on how to handle that food and ensure that food is safe,” she added.
She further discouraged residents from growing crops along the banks of the Nairobi River.
The Clerk of Nairobi County Assembly Edward Gichana said they want to create awareness to improve governance on health.
He noted that the meeting also deliberated on the financing of health services and ensuring they are accessible.
“We brought MCAs because they are the ones who approve the laws and policies, as those policies come from the executive then members would have to own them so that when they are processing them it is easier to fast-track them to be implemented by the executive,” said the Clerk.
Nairobi will hold the 1st Annual Health Scientific Conference from 20-22nd November themed “Advancing Health Equity towards a Resilience and a Sustainable People-Centered Primary Healthcare System.”
By Sadik Hassan
