Kenya could see a significant jump in vegetables consumption with increased deployment of traceability mechanisms along the value chain.
According to the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Kenyans are currently consuming between 100-130 grams of vegetable per person per day against the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended 400g of vegetable per person per day.
“Low consumption is because many people in Kenya have not understood the nutritional importance o these vegetable. They are rich in vitamins, nutrients and minerals. That’s why it can afford to protect us from many communicable and non-communicable diseases,” said Joseph Wanguhu, Project coordinator Vegetable for All project at GAIN.
Under the Vegetable for All project which is currently being implemented in five counties, GAIN is working with last mile vendors whose stores are branded, build their capacity and assist them on how to use market facilitator model for traceability.
Through the market facilitator model which targets suppliers, GAIN says the model ensure vegetables brought to the market are fresh, safe and are easy to trace.
“Under the Vegetable for All project that is being implemented in five counties of Nairobi, Nakuru Mombasa Kiambu and Machakos we are targeting to reach 4.7 million consumers and have at least 1.1 million consumers increase their uptake of safe and nutritious vegetables,” said Dennis Mayaka, GAIN Deputy Country Director.
Low consumption is further being curtailed by bad agriculture practices, such as use of illegal pesticides and sewer water.
GAIN also helps vendors in the five counties doing the maximum residue level tests through the agriculture ministry, private sector and the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS).
Additionally, the organization has also supported the establishment of cold rooms in the five counties in a bid to improve safety and cut losses.
“In Nairobi, we are doing a lot of markets. The target is to do 20 markets by 2027 and so far we have done four and we are decongesting the markets. When we build new ones, we move traders away from the bigger congested markets,” added Esther Mogusu , Nairobi County Director for Nutrition, Wellness and School Feeding Programme.
The Vegetable for All project which is expected to be concluded at the end of 2027 has so far worked with 12,000 vegetable vendors and trained 9,854 mama on how to improve safety and increased vegetable consumption to 195 grams per person per day.
Ronald Owili
