Bilateral meeting with the Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation of Kenya, the Honorable Alice Wahome

New York – FAO Director-General QU Dongyu met the Honorable Alice Wahome, Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation of Kenya, in New York on 22 March 2023 on the sidelines of the UN 2023 Water Conference. 

At the start of the meeting, the Director-General recalled his recent visit to Kenya in February 2023, where he met the President of Kenya, His Excellency William Ruto, with whom he had discussed the importance of irrigation technologies for rural development and agricultural transformation. The Director-General commended Kenya's political will in driving forward the food security and nutrition agenda, including through better, more innovative and efficient irrigation. 

The Cabinet Secretary reaffirmed that that these priorities are at the core of the country's food security and development agenda, and highlighted that the Government recognized the value of working across the agriculture and water sectors as a whole. The Director-General emphasized that this approach was in line with FAO's vision for the transformation of global agrifood systems. The two also discussed how addressing food shortage concerns relies in great part on a more sustainable and integrated management of water resources, especially against a backdrop of devastating floods followed by prolonged drought, as has been seen in Kenya. The Director-General also noted that, at a regional level, the African continent stands to improve on irrigation technologies, soil management, improved seed varieties and sustainable fertilizer use.

The Cabinet Secretary requested FAO to continue supporting Kenya with regard to the mobilization of resources for climate action and to ensure adequate access to sufficient and timely climate finance. The Director-General reaffirmed FAO's support, building on the longstanding cooperation between the Organization and the Government of Kenya, including for the digitalization of land registration that can inform and support the management and governance of public resources, including water. The Director-General further emphasized the need to develop national water irrigation strategies and work closely with private investors, including on a strategic pricing of water use that creates the right incentives for its sustainable use, and the scaling up of critical water management infrastructure.  

The Director-General invited Kenyan stakeholders, investors and innovators to join the World Food Forum community, in addition to the future iterations of the Rome Water Dialogue series.