Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and a group of CEOs announced today at a press conference during the 2009 World Economic Forum on Africa that Kenyan leaders will take over an innovative business alliance aimed at reducing hunger in Africa.

The Alliance, coordinated by a Kenya-based secretariat, comprises over 30 companies and organizations working to develop business-led solutions to hunger.

Alliance members have developed innovative business models through 14 on-the-ground initiatives in a Kenyan pilot district – creating 150 small-scale businesses, increasing the income and production of 2,300 farmers and reaching thousands of consumers with improved products and services.

Formed in 2006 by global CEOs and then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Alliance has been managed to date by the World Economic Forum. Under its new structure, the alliance will be led and managed by Kenya-based organizations, with continued support from global partners.

The MDG Centre in Nairobi, which manages the Millennium Villages Project in East and Southern Africa, will serve as the institutional host.