Officials of China and Kenya sign documents during the handover ceremony of the eighth and last batch of 2018 Chinese Food Aid Program in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, Feb. 14, 2022. Kenya on Monday held handover ceremony of the eighth and last batch of 2018 Chinese Food Aid Program to boost the war against hunger and malnutrition in Kenya that has escalated amid recurrent droughts. (Photo by Charles Onyango/Xinhua)
NAIROBI, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Monday held handover ceremony of the eighth and last batch of 2018 Chinese Food Aid Program to boost the war against hunger and malnutrition in Kenya that has escalated amid recurrent droughts.
Margaret Kobia, the cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Public Service, Gender, Senior Citizens Affairs and Special Programs said the eighth and last batch of 2018 Chinese Food Aid Program weighs 890 metric tons and the donation will enhance efforts to alleviate food insecurity in drought-stricken parts of the country.
"We thank China for complementing government efforts to alleviate hunger," Kobia remarked at the donation ceremony attended by senior government officials and Minister Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Kenya, Zhang Yijun.
According to Kobia, earlier rice donation from China has already been distributed to arid and semi-arid regions besides supporting school feeding programs in a bid to boost nutrition status among children.
She noted that the cordial bilateral relations that Kenya has forged with China in diverse fields like trade, finance and education have evolved to cover humanitarian support.
Kobia stressed that Kenya was keen to strengthen mutual collaboration with China and achieve positive outcomes, adding that humanitarian assistance from the Asian Nation had a profound impact on drought-stricken communities.
She said the government had proactively responded to the current drought through intensifying cash transfer, water trucking and emergency food aid to communities in the arid lands.
The official said the government had also prioritized action on the climate crisis to boost the resilience of local communities and their livelihoods.
Zhang Yijun, the Minister Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Kenya said that Beijing has since 2018 donated 11,835 metric tons of rice worth 1.2 billion shillings (about 12 million U.S. dollars) as part of its humanitarian assistance to Kenya.
"Up to now, all the eight consignments of the rice donation have already been received and distributed to those in starvation," said Zhang.
He said that since 2011, the Chinese government has donated to Kenya emergency food aid worth 55 million dollars as the two countries elevate strategic cooperation in line with the Belt and Road Initiative.
Zhang added that Beijing will continue to provide humanitarian assistance including emergency food aid to African countries besides availing pesticides and irrigation technologies to help fight drought and locust plague in the continent. ■