The Kisumu County government is partnering with the Kenya Red Cross and Danish investors to boost food security in the county.
Speaking during a meeting with Access2 Innovation Programme manager Ole Stein, county deputy governor Ruth Odinga said the partnership will link them with the investors who are from different organisations in Denmark. She said the investors want to partner with local people for business.
“This is a new way of doing business and instead of focusing on aid, people can now partner and do business together,” she said.
Odinga appealed to the Kenya Red Cross to open up a Bomas Inn in Kisumu for tourism conferencing. She said the county can facilitate land acquisition for the hotel which could boost tourism in the county.
She also asked them to co- partner with the county government to train staff on disaster management citing the case where a building recently collapsed at Manyatta within the county.
“We should work together as a team to make sure that disasters are controlled within the county,” said Odinga.
On the Access2 Innovation partnership, Stein said they also want to boost renewable energy, tourism and logistics. He said they are a network organisation bringing together private businesses in Denmark with other private businesses in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
He said that while in the county, they will work with various Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to promote and get knowledge from the local society. He said they will also be working with the academia.
Stein said their next step will be to embark on a feasibility study. He said they want to enhance trade in the county instead of aid to eradicate issues of poverty in the process.
The Regional Red cross Chairperson G.P Onyango said Kenya Red Cross is ready to assist in any area the county government needs help.