At a meeting held on Monday August 2nd, 2021, Israel signed a partnership with the Kenyan county of Turkana. The future collaboration will focus on a food security and water supply programme.
It was during a meeting last Monday in Lodwar, capital of Turkana County, Kenya, that the Israeli ambassador to Kenya, Oded Joseph, and Josphat Nanok, the local governor, raised the problem of flooding and food insecurity in Turkana. In an exchange, the two men discussed the similarities between the geography of their respective countries, particularly with regard to climate. Israel offered to apply the same innovations and programmes that have worked in Israel to Kenya, and to this end, to form a joint technical team to develop the collaborative programme. Turkana is the first of ten counties identified by Israel for possible direct collaboration in Kenya.
Water management at the heart of the dialogue
To support the development of Turkana County’s water laboratory capacity, the Israeli ambassador announced that his government would collaborate with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The aim is to carry out water quality tests in the area, which will give the laboratory greater independence to provide reliable information for intervention depending on the quality of the water observed. In order to adapt water purification techniques for domestic use.
In addition, local graduates of agricultural studies could be part of an 11-month sponsorship programme, financed by Israel, to introduce Kenyans to water management in arid zones. Joseph Oded also said that some of Israel’s desalination and water harvesting methods could be used to address the water shortage. These methods would be extended to crop production and would take advantage of technical innovations developed for planting in dry lands, notably through transformational agrotech. The training will start after the Covid-19 travel restrictions are lifted. Although a virtual training course will start in the meantime.
Habib TIZI
