Nairobi: The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) has launched a county-level initiative aimed at improving financial tracking and accountability in food systems to strengthen investment, food security, and climate resilience. The County-led Food Systems Financial Tracking and Investment (COFFCI) project will be piloted in Kisumu County to help counties monitor food systems financing, improve investment planning, and attract sustainable funding for agriculture and nutrition programmes.
According to Kenya News Agency, GAIN Kenya Country Director Ruth Okowa highlighted during the Financing Agri-food Systems Sustainably (FINAS) 2026 side event that Kenya has invested heavily in food systems but lacks effective mechanisms to track expenditure and measure its impact at the county level. She emphasized that stronger financial accountability would enable counties to make evidence-based investment decisions while supporting the implementation of the National Agri-food Systems Investment Plan (NASIP) 2026-2030.
The project, implemented by GAIN in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development and funded by the Embassy of Ireland, aims to strengthen county financial tracking systems, improve institutional coordination, and build technical capacity for investment planning. Okowa noted that an assessment conducted between 2024 and 2025 across 20 counties identified several gaps, including weak financial tracking systems and inadequate data to measure the impact of food systems investments.
Kisumu was selected for the pilot because of its established county food systems strategy and progress in food systems reporting, making it suitable for testing innovative financing models. Okowa expressed confidence that lessons from the pilot would be replicated across other counties to strengthen governance, transparency, and investment in food systems.
Ireland's Ambassador to Kenya, Caitriona Ingoldsby, stated that the initiative would enhance accountability by generating evidence to guide investment decisions and help successful approaches tested in Kisumu to be replicated in other counties. She highlighted the importance of efficient resource utilization in the face of a changing global development financing landscape.
In addition, Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) Chairman John Mruttu called for reforms to Kenya's succession laws, citing delays in land ownership transfer as a barrier to agricultural credit access for young people. He urged Parliament to expedite amendments to simplify and speed up the transfer process, which would unlock credit access and support the country's agricultural transformation agenda.