Kisumu County is rolling out a pioneering pilot program designed to track financial investments in food infrastructure, paving the way for a national framework to address systemic funding deficits in Kenya’s broader agricultural sector.

Making the announcement during the Financing Agri-Food Systems Sustainability (FINAS) 2026 Forum in Nairobi, Kisumu Deputy Governor Mathew Owili revealed that the initiative is being anchored under the Financial Flows to Food Systems (3FS) framework.

The model is receiving critical strategic and financial backing from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the Embassy of Ireland.

To institutionalize the initiative, Dr Owili explained that the county administration, through the Department of Agriculture, has operationalized the Food Liaison Advisory Council of Kisumu (FLACK).

This advisory body consolidates the resource mobilization efforts of the public sector, development agencies, private enterprise, and grassroots civil society to accelerate food systems transformation.

Dr Owili noted that the administration has intentionally embraced an integrated, multi-sectoral approach guided by the Kisumu County Food Systems Strategy, which serves as their operational blueprint to remodel how food moves from farms to urban consumers sustainably.

“The county’s holistic roadmap is structured around six core, interconnected pillars. It focuses on strengthening food systems governance and boosting climate-smart yields through sustainable production, while aggressively promoting value addition and post-harvest management,” Dr Owili noted.

“Additionally,” he went on, “The strategy targets market infrastructure development, guarantees quality control through nutrition and public health food safety initiatives, and addresses critical cross-cutting priorities like mitigating climate change and curbing food waste.”

This strategic alignment has enabled Kisumu to sync its departmental planning and budgeting directly with policy execution, a move that has significantly strengthened its collaboration with international research bodies and private financiers.

The Deputy county boss stated that during the forum sessions, delegates explored actionable mechanisms to unlock commercial funding so they can scale resilient, inclusive, and climate-smart food networks across the African continent.

Dr Owili reaffirmed Kisumu County’s long-term commitment to collaborating alongside GAIN, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Embassy of Ireland, and the Council of Governors to build stable food ecosystems that improve nutritional health, generate youth employment, and uplift local livelihoods.