Kenya seeks Food and Drug Control Administration's e-governance programme
Gujarat government's e-governance initiative has generated interest from Kenya's drug regulators. Impressed by the systematic performance of Xtended Licensing and Laboratory Note (XLN), developed and adopted by Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA), Kenya is likely to introduce a similar model in the African country.
A delegation led by Dr Ahmed Mohamed, director of inspection and surveillance team from the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) had visited Gujarat FDCA earlier this month. The self-licensing software has enabled the FDCA to regulate the sales and manufacturing aspects related to drugs, food and cosmetics, issuance of licenses, among other things. The software enables online registration of all the pharmacists and chemists, preventing multiple illegal enrollment of pharmacists to ensure public safety.
KAM Gets Sh239 Million to Promote Green Energy
KENYA Association of Manufacturers has obtained more funds from the French Development Agency(AFD) to finance technical and feasibility study assistance to investors eyeing renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.
This follows growing interest in this sector after it emerged that the first phase of a similar funding project attracted many proposals and successfully initiated projects which have so far been able to generate 22 megawatts in total.
Kenya looks to India for farm mechanisation
Kenya is planning to mechanise its agriculture and looking to India for farm equipment that will bring down production costs. The East African country is also bringing in policy changes to transform the sector from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture.
"We are looking at India for mechanisation support. Currently, we have around 15,000 tractors but there is a severe deficit. The requirement is for 100,000 tractors," Felix Koskei, Kenya's cabinet secretary for agriculture, livestock and fisheries, told IANS in an interview.
"After having discussions with the manufacturers we will start talks with the Indian government. We have already spoken to Indian companies like Sonalika Tractors, Apollo and many others," added Koskei, who was here for the Asia-Africa Agri-Business Forum meeting organised by the Indian government in association with industry chamber FICCI.
He noted in this context that Kenya had secured an $80 million line of credit from Brazil to buy 2,000 pieces of farm equipment.
Introducing Solar-Powered Sanitation At Kakuma, Kenya
World Water Day focuses attention on the link between water supplies and energy needs. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kenyan partners are working on a project to use solar energy to improve sanitation for 100,000 refugees.
Human life requires water. Less obvious is the amount of energy required to maintain water supplies; pumping, distributing and sanitation are all energy-intensive activities. World Water Day 2014 draws attention to the connection between water and energy, advocating water and sanitation solutions that integrate the demand for both commodities.
