By: Emily Mikwa
A consortium of 16 partners from Europe and East Africa are currently meeting to review the project’s progress at Acacia Premier Hotel in Kisumu.
PrAEctiCe, an initiative funded by EU under horizon 2020, deals in adaptive integrated Aqua -Agriculture Research to tackle food and nutrition security in East Africa.
East Africa, being home to over 473 million people, face significant challenges in accessing adequate, safe and nutritious food.
Moreover, climate change threatens farmers in the region who rely on crops for food.
It’s against this backdrop that the project dubbed ” potentials of Agroecological practices in East Africa” focuses on circular water energy nutrients systems to tackle the food security through a concept into action approach in the sector of farming sustainability.
The aim of the project is to develop a decision support tool to assist farmers in mitigating and adapting impacts in the local context of farming practices on climate change and financial viability.
So far three labs have been designated in East Africa to facilitate the project’s data validation, namely: lab one, demonstration site Vicin Aqua for aquaculture and intercroping in Kisumu – Nyalenda ponds which deals in waste water treatment for cropping and fish farming.
Lab two, hydro-aquaponics facility in Uganda.
Lab three, a fish – poultry integrated system in Tanzania.
While officially welcoming the participants in Kisumu for fruitful deliberations, the CECM for Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock and Fisheries, Hon. Kenn Onyango said Kisumu takes pride in hosting one of the designated labs which is a tool that will be used to train farmers on research.
