From July to September 2021, USAID Advancing Nutrition led a first-of-its-kind co-creation initiative in Kenya that brought together multi-sectoral partners to develop a joint action plan for nutrition. In consultation with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and county nutrition coordinators, we facilitated four different online and in-person workshops in for national leadership as well as representatives from 47 county governments working across sectors including health, agriculture, social protection, and education. Participants attended in a mix of in-person and virtual sessions that served as a platform to discuss proposed recommendations, activities, and priorities for multi-sectoral nutrition as outlined in the Kenya Nutrition Action Plan (KNAP), County Nutrition Action Plan (CNAP), Agri-Nutrition Implementation Strategy, and county government sectoral annual operations work plans.
A number of prominent Kenyan leaders participated in the co-creation workshops. Among them were Director of the MOH Division of Nutrition and Dietetics Veronica Kirogo, Deputy Director of Agri-Nutrition Jane Wambugu, Assistant Director of Education Daniel M. Muia, Assistant Director of Child Services Josphat M. Kalinge, and Senior Principal Officer of the Council of Governors Robert Kiteme. At the county-level, executive committee members for health, as well as chief officers and county directors of health and agriculture, attended the sessions.
Workshop participants engaged with each other through breakout sessions, brainstorming opportunities, presentations, and other follow-up activities, including sectoral meetings. The goal was to develop national and county-level nutrition action plans to inform the work of USAID Advancing Nutrition in the country. Workshop participants then developed action plans focused on a number of themes, including county nutrition advocacy and implementation; county multi-sectoral nutrition financial allocation; and county-led multi-sectoral nutrition governance, planning, and coordination. After the co-creation workshops, follow-up meetings refined the monitoring and evaluation and costing components of the nutrition action plans.
The national and county-level plans developed through the co-creation initiative continue to inform sector priorities and various policy documents supported by USAID Advancing Nutrition, such as the KNAP, CNAP, and the Agri-Nutrition Implementation Strategy. Learn more about our work in Kenya.