JOOUST Africa Center of Excellence in Sustainable Use of Insects of Insects as Foods and Feeds (INSEFOODS) recently held a meeting with its partners in Kisumu.

The two-day workshop that started on the 27th of November, 2018, was instituted for the sanction of the approved project action plans through joint planning and implementation of activities. It aimed at having the regional and local partners share ownership of activities, agreeing on monitoring indicators for ACE II activities, have clear division of roles and responsibilities and establish effective and regular communication.

Deputy Vice Chancellor Planning Administration and Finance, Prof. Francis Ang’awa set the tone by welcoming the partners to the workshop and encouraged them to share their skills and expertise extensively towards achieving the objective of the project. This was followed by the official launch of the workshop by Prof. Benson Estambale, the Deputy Vice Chancellor Research, Innovation and Outreach.

The objectives of the meeting were clearly outlined by the task leader Dr. Alice Nakhumicha, who also stated that the project seeks to ensure trust and transparence amongst the partners. This was strongly supported by the project’s Principal Investigator Prof. Monica Ayieko, who emphasized on the need for a deeper understanding of what partnerships are all about.

The workshop had a plethora of activities well spread out through the two days, which saw the partners discuss partnerships and collaborations, implementation guidelines, task leaders for the activities, training and mentorships, research and technology, legal aspects, partner action plan and expectations and more.

The World Bank funded ACE II project has already established partnerships with local and regional Universities such as Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Makerere University and Chinhoyi University of Technology based in Zimbabwe. The other partners also were also well represented in the meeting are Tembea, National Museums of Kenya, SIGMA Feeds Kenya, Maseno ATC and Anglican Development Services (ADS).

“Whatever little or much given in your hands, do it with all your heart” were the closing sentiments by the Director INSEFOODS Dr. Darius Andika, who also thanked all for their input and support towards the project.