Traders and vendors operating in one of the largest markets in Kiambu County have been championing food safety and taken up the role of ensuring the space they are operating from is not only clean but also the food being sold to consumers is safe.
This however has been done through the support of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the Kiambu County which has been working with the traders since 2020 through Keeping Food Markets Working Programme (KFMW).
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition Gain, is a Swiss-based foundation that seeks to reduce human suffering caused by malnutrition by encouraging and promoting healthier diets.
Madaraka Market, based in Thika Town operates on a daily basis with two market days in week, Tuesday and Friday and serves around 2000 people on a daily basis while on market days the number of consumers reaches 3,000.
As the World Marks the World Food Safety Day today whose theme is running under “Food Safety Prepare for the unexpected” the traders have been observing hygiene practices, organising themselves in even tracking local consumer perceptions and monthly price trends of select nutritious foods to ensure their consumers are satisfied with their products.
Speaking at the Market, James Mbugua, secretary of Madaraka market said they have been trained on cleanliness and on good governance and this has seen them even follow up on where their food is coming from.
“We have been able to put ourselves into groups based on the produce that each of the traders sells and this has made it easier to manage ourselves and be able to make sure that our produce is safe, has been transported in a good manner and that there is order.
Mbugua who sells vegetables explained that for every product they sell they have one person who is in charge and leads other traders. “For example, we have a chairman who sells, handles and leads other traders in the cabbage value chain, beans, onions and vegetables among others.
The Secretary explained that GAIN has trained the market leaders through workshop on food safety and hygienic guidelines and practices, waste and even maximising on sales and consumption opportunity but also ensuring compliance.
He however appealed to the County Government to provide the traders with cold rooms where they can store their produce as most of them are selling fresh food that are easily perishable.
Kipng’eno Mutai, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Project Coordinator in Kiambu County said that they have been working on a number of projects in partnership with the County Government to build the capacity of the market committee in order to make the Market a safe and where safe food can be found.
“We have also been working on two programmes namely, Keeping Food Markets Working and also vegetable for all which seeks to encourage residents of Kiambu County to increase the quantity of vegetables they consume,” he added
Within Madaraka Market, Mutai explained that they have been building their capacity on properly managing the market, ensuring that the traders conform to good practices having proper allocations with good arrangements such as section for the cereals, section for vegetables, for fruits even as they maintain and practice hygiene
Other than that, he said that currently they are engaged with the Department of Agriculture and engaging the sub-county agricultural officers and the ward agricultural officers to train farmers on various aspects of good agricultural practices within Kiambu County,
“These are the foods that we link them to, to ensure foods are available but also and now traders in Madaraka Market are now in a position to trace back where their food items are coming from and thus ensure residents of Kiambu are consuming food that meets their nutrients needs,” he said
GAIN has been supporting this market through various projects, to support food safety by putting up Cabros in some sections of the open market to reduce mud during the rainy seasons, installed 10,000 litre water tanks to help in sanitation such as washing hands before, during and even after work and also distributed waste bins within the market to ensure the market remains clean.
“We have been working with the county government to support issues of garbage collection within the market. This we have done through issuing dustbins, and also monitoring to ensure that the county government trucks pick up the trash on time,” Mutai said.
Mutai said this year’s food safety theme resonates well with what GAIN has been doing since Covid-19 pandemic.
“During the lockdown in 2020, most markets were closed and as Gain we came up with the Project-Keeping Food Markets Working, which sought to ensure that traders were able to access food commodities coming from outside the counties and maintain safety.
This he added has also helped the traders to become more resilient especially during the hard economic times and can be able to cope with some of the challenges, prepare for the unexpected such as the recent rains that also affected open air markets.
Kiambu County Government is planning to build an ultra-modern market for the traders but even as they wait for that the traders have been doing clean up exercises numerous times just to ensure that the waste is gathered and collected at central places in an organised manner and the market remains up to standard.
Wairimu Kagiri from the Kiambu County Council in charge of the market said they have been working with GAIN to improve the food safety for Madaraka open market by supporting the traders in putting their produce in a raised area so that they do not place their items down for safety.
“The traders have also been taught on how to trace the origin of the commodities they are selling so that they do not sell contaminated items. Tracing the vehicles that are transporting the food for safety, and on how to handle food, especially by washing their hands, keeping the produce safe, keeping it fresh, and also maintaining good health even as they sell,” said Kagiri.
She said that they ensure they collect garbage every week, with workers from the county government cleaning up the market early in the morning before vendors open.
Kagiri urged the government and other partners to train traders more on how to deal with fresh commodities so that they are aware of what they are selling, how they should stock what they are selling safely and that what the consumers are getting is also fresh.
“I would like to encourage traders, that every time they are selling a food commodity, they should ensure that that place is clean, ensure you are clean, ensure that the person who is coming to touch any of the food commodity is clean,” said Kagiri.
Kagiri emphasised on the need for more education, and added that the agriculture department should be aggressive on the ground, and especially visiting the markets often so that they can trace back where the commodities are coming from.
“Today is World Food Safety Day and the message to all of us as Kenyans to be responsible when it comes to matters food, be it handling of sensitive fresh foods such as tomatoes and ensure they are not harmful but for the traders let them know more about the products they are selling and be able to tell the importance of the product to their customers”, Kagiri said
Nancy Waniru, a trader at the Madaraka market for over 20 years and who sells peas said she is among the beneficiaries of GAIN and Kiambu County trainings on proper handling of food to ensure safety.
The 47-year-old mother of three said before the training she could put her Irish potatoes or peas on the ground but now she had learnt that it is always good to display her produce in a raised area to avoid food contamination.
“I come every day to this market and ensure before I even start selling my vegetable to the customer hands are clean, this area where am putting my produce is also clean and this guarantees I attract even more customers who also look for clean produce”, she said
Wanjiru called upon the leadership of Kiambu County which had promised them of an uplift to move quickly saying as an open market they are still dealing with issues of rain and heat as they do not have good shades.
The government on this day has been calling on consumers and trades to practice safe food handling and knowing how to keep food safe before, during and after emergencies like floods, and even power outages.
By Wangari Ndirangu
