Info June 2018

Nairobi, Kenya
Launch of PARCAP and RECS projects
From 23 to 27 April 2018 representatives
of 11 Caritas from
Africa – Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea,
Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Uganda,
the Democratic Republic of Congo
(invited as an observer and to share
its experience in this area), Sierra
Leone, South Sudan, Zambia – gathered
in Nairobi for the launch of two
regional programs: the Caritas Africa
Mobilisation Enhancement support
Project on Advocacy for the promotion
of Right to Food (PARCAP) and
the Resilience Enhancement and
Capacity Building Project (RECS).
The Most Rev. Zacchaeus Okoth,
Archbishop of Kisumu, was invited to
deliver the keynote address to the
participants on “The role of the
Church regarding Food security in
Africa”.
The two programs
aim to strengthen the
advocacy capacities
of the Caritas with a
common goal: to contribute
through advocacy
to the realisation
of the right to food for
the most vulnerable
and to the implementation
of the Sustainable
Development
Goal No. 2 on the
elimination of hunger, food security
and sustainable agriculture. The first
project was funded by the Caritas
Internationalis General Secretariat
under the Regional Development
Fund while the second project was
supported by Caritas South Korea
(Caritas Korea).
These programs started in 2017 and a
number of activities preceded this
joint event: exchanges with the Caritas
concerned to share the documents on
these two projects, identification of the
focal points, launch of a survey to
establish the baseline situation for
each of the 10 Caritas in terms of
engagement in advocacy for food
security, participation of a Caritas
Ethiopia delegate at the Caritas Asia
Regional Workshop on Justice and
Resilience in Climate Crisis in December
2017 in Bangkok (Thailand), development
of Terms of Reference for the
joint workshop, identification of stakeholders
and development of training
modules.
The discussions were lively and participants
showed a great interest in the
topics covered – among others, the
social teaching of the Church on the
right to food, the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, the role of
The Most Rev. Zacchaeus Okoth, Archbishop of Kisumu, with participants.
Caritas in the Church and its advocacy
mission for the poor, strategic planning
of advocacy actions. These theoretical
contributions have been enriched
by the perspectives of participants
from different countries, who
have shared their experiences and
exposed transferable practices to sister
Caritas.
A representative of the Kenyan
Ministry of Agriculture spoke at the
Caritas Africa Info: page/página 17
workshop to present Kenya’s experience
in sustainable agriculture and
food security, mentioning the role of
Agriculture in the 2063 agenda of the
African Union and how Kenya
contributes to it.
In addition, the workshop also included
a field visit to the Kiambu Dairy
Project site in Kaibere Village (Kiambu
County, Thika) managed by Caritas
Nairobi. This project allows farming
families to increase their income
through the practice of smart and
organic farming, dairy production and
reuse of waste for the production of
organic gas. Participants were able to
observe these projects and interact
with families in the light of the previously
presented notions. They
found that the three dimensions
(economic, social and environmental)
of sustainable development
were indeed
combined in the integrated
approach of
this project.
Based on these observations
and the reflections
on the problems
of food insecurity faced
by African countries,
the participating
Caritas developed action
plans for advocacy
at the national level, as well as
stra-tegic orientations at the regional
level. Changes in legislation (including
support for small-scale farming),
implementation of social policies,
training of small farmers on access to
productive resources and public
awareness can be found in several of
these plans. This advocacy exercise
will also target the Church through
sensitization to increase its mobilisation
on these urgent issues.