The Kenya Organic Food Festival and Exhibition 2018

Venue: Wangari Maathai Institute Kabete

Date: 21-22nd September 2019

Gate Entry: Free

The first of its kind in Kenya will host over 50 exhibitors including traders, farmers, input suppliers etc who will showcase what the Organic Food industry is all about.

The event is particularly tailored for families and organic farming enthusiasts, with more focus on learning and technology transfer.

The following programme of events will be followed;

 

Conference Title: Your Health, Your Wealth: What Governments can do to ensure Healthy Constituents.

Morning session

Objective: Understanding the Link between Food, Food Safety, Health and Nutrition

The morning session of the conference aims at addressing consumer’s Interests around:

• Food safety
• Food quality
• Consumer health (Intrinsic and Extrinsic qualities)
• Availability
• Accessibility

The above themes can be refined into 3 main themes that also tie in nicely to policy issues within agriculture.

Table 1: Summary of the themes and topics to be covered in the discussions.

Theme #	1	2	3
Theme Title	Designing sustainable food systems	Heathy planet, Healthy people	Nutrition
Description	Availability and Accessibility of organic produce to consumers	The links between healthy soils, healthy plants and animals and healthy human beings for sustainable Diet	The complexities of nutrition with regards to culture traditions and taste and how to eat a balanced diet
Active partner/ Workshop facilitator		HIVOS	GAIN
Topics covered (Based on issues mentioned thus far)	Food safety, Food quality, Accessibility, Affordability	Awareness, Consumer Health, Availability	Consumer Health, Acceptability
Approach (2hrs)	Inspirational Master Classes in break out groups 1 1/4 hrs   There will be one lead facilitator for each theme. Participants will break into three groups based on interest. For each group there will be one expert of the theme/area of interest who will use a max 20 minutes to present/introduce the topic either through their real life experience of an ongoing innovative project/business case/idea in line with the main consumer issues.   Thereafter the floor opens up to gather feedback from the audience (10 min). The goal is that the audience understands the case,  and is inspired to be part of it and ask questions.   The next 30 minutes are open floor to talk about the audiences experiences, inspirations, ideas and how they could be a part of this/support/ connect/ grow the idea. The main points are jotted down and the facilitator keeps these in mind to improve the presentation and information.   In the final 15 minutes, the main points are summarised, ways forward are given and the facilitator adds these points. This is used to inspire the plenary session   In the 15 minutes, all participants are asked to return to the main room for the inspirational summary, through which the three facilitators will have 10 min each to present their case again, what is good, what they will continue working on and also what is missing and partners they are looking for. This is done in panel formation.
Needs	Timekeepers (3x), 1x plenary moderator, 3x workshop facilitators, 2hrs

 

Afternoon Session

Objective: What Counties are doing to ensure healthy constituents

The afternoon session aims at sharing what County Governments can do to support Ecological Organic Agriculture. The idea is for Counties that are already supporting EOA can inspire others on what they are doing so that others can learn and also support in their Counties.

Approach:

Three Counties will be selected to share their experiences. Participants will break into three groups and in each group one county will share how they are supporting EOA in their respective Counties in 10 -15 minutes. Then the audience will have 20-30 minutes to suggest other specific areas where they would like County Governments to support. The County officials will be given an opportunity to advise on practicalities and whether the ideas can be taken up and advise on the best approaches. The key potential ideas will be summarized and be presented at plenary. These will be take home messages for County Governments and basis for Civil Society Organizations to undertake follow ups.

Day 2: September 20^th 2019 – Organic Food and Eco Festival

Objective: To show case organic products, innovations and other environmentally friendly technologies

The day will be a family out fun day where different age groups will be entertained, informed on the benefits of eating organic and have an opportunity to purchase organic and other environmentally friendly products. Below are some of the activities that will take place on the day.

Food Cooking Competition

The chefs will cook food using fresh organic vegetables found at the organic market

The idea is that the chef explains her/his meals, get people involved in cooking with her/him while explaining the health benefits of such foods. Location in the kitchen.

Farmers Market

Farmers sell and explain their organic journey – Challenges and Opportunities in Organic Production marketing and how consumers could participate in the development of organic food system

Organic/Healthy Treasure Hunt

Organic certified treats offered (These could be from Kenya and other countries)

Art-related activities: Painting, art and story-telling via art

Opportunity for people to draw their opinion of an organic system/city/county/neighbor hood

Face painting relating to organic things/things needed for a healthy ecosystem. Think of trees, bees, flowers, clean air, clean water, soils (worms), the sun,

Comedy: Comedian to tell jokes relating to the truth of our current food economy and what needs to change

Home gardening: Workshop on how one can plant and grow their vegetables or herbs at  home

Other recreational facilities include:

Bouncing castle

Entertainment/concert at the Amphitheater

Football (mini courts)