Last week, our director Wouter van Vliet had the great privilege and honor to present the FDOV program FoodTechAfrica to Minister Liesje Schreinemacher (BHOS) and the accompanying high-level delegation from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DDE, DIO, IGG, African department). Minister Liesje Schreinemacher and the delegation visited various companies to see how Kenya and the Netherlands work together.
During an interactive session in Limuru, the team discussed the novel approach of this FDOV partnership, activities executed, results achieved and the lessons learned.
The partnership has directly contributed to increased productivity, food security, job creation, local production for local market and enhanced sustainability of East Africa’s aquaculture value chain. In 2022, the output of the partnership will reach an estimated 6.2 million consumers in East Africa.
Public-private partnership FoodTechAfrica ensures fresh and affordable fish in Kenya
Combining capabilities in a public-private partnership between Kenyan and Dutch companies, knowledge institutes and Government has proven to be highly effective. The project has paved the way towards the positioning of Dutch and Kenyan companies as partners of innovative and integrated solutions for aquaculture, having resulted in sector development and institutional cooperation. In February 2022, the FoodTechAfrica consortium members announced a follow-up investment of >8 million Euro.
The partners of FoodTechAfrica are both grateful for the activities implemented and proud of the results achieved. The impact of the project has been made possible through the successful cooperation with many partners, all of whom have shown continued personal commitment throughout the project’s eight years (2013 – 2021).
The team of Larive International would like to express their gratitude to those partners, without whom FoodTechAfrica would not have flourished. Amarens Felperlaan, Nico van Aalsburg and Ianthe Nieuwenhuis (NEA) have provided invaluable guidance throughout, together with five consecutive finance managers over the course of the project. Mr. Anno Galema, ministry of Foreign Affairs, recognized the potential of the value chain approach and we thank him for his support from the very early stages into project development.
We are grateful to the Dutch Embassy team, including Ingrid Korving, Manou Aelmans and Liz Kiamba, for their continued commitment to FoodTechAfrica. His Excellency Maarten Brouwer and Frans Makken (ambassadors to Kenya) have provided public support and visibility including the formal openings of the Aquaculture Academy locations, the Unga feed facility in Nairobi and Kamuthanga farms in Machakos, together with their Kenyan counterparts.
As a team, we have been able to realize the lasting building block of the aquaculture sector in East Africa.
Asante Sana!
