Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua is slated to address the high-level United Nations Summit+2 Stocktaking on Financing Food Systems in Rome, Italy on Monday morning.
The Deputy President is representing President William Ruto at the Summit, whose participants are mainly Heads of State and Government and key organisations seeking lasting solutions to hunger, malnutrition and mitigating the impact of Climate Change.
The three-day high-level talks will kick off with Kenya setting the stage with a keynote address by the Deputy President on Financing Food Systems.
The keynote will focus on Kenya’s Food Systems Transformation Initiative, as part of stocktaking of the commitment of States, Governments and other Stakeholders in allocating resources to end hunger and malnutrition.
Delegates at the Summit is also expected to discuss, at length, the school meals programme in which States also work with other partners in ensuring pupils in public primary schools receive food and in balanced rations, to promote health and education.
In this year’s budget, the Government has doubled funds for the school meals programme to Kshs 5 billion showing the government’s commitment to ensure children are retained in schools.
The Deputy President is also scheduled to speak about measures of sustainably lowering the cost of living, especially subsidising production, as opposed to consumption.
The Deputy President is also expected to engage with Kenyans living in Italy, at a dinner at the Westin Hotel in Rome as well as hold talks with Prime Minister Meloni with the aim of strengthening the bilateral relations of the two nations.
On Tuesday morning, the Deputy President is slated to be a guest speaker at a breakfast side meeting on homegrown sources of food for the school meals programme.