Kenya

Kenya lies in East Africa, and is bordered by Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and the Indian Ocean. Kenya is one of the poorest countries in Africa. Crop farming is a challenge because 75% of the country is arid and semi-arid. As a result many farmers rely on livestock for their incomes.

The Kenyan Government's most recent Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), published in 2005, recognises the fact that the agricultural sector is well placed to play a central role in not only reducing poverty but also improving food security.

In Kenya, pastoralist areas in particular have the highest rates of poverty, the lowest human development indices and the least access to basic services compared with other areas. Pastoralist areas have poor communications, weak market and supply chain linkages, a lack of water, poor access to social services such as education and health, and virtually no formal employment opportunities. In addition, pastoralists are located in remote dryland regions where climate and environmental factors pose risks to their livestock, and therefore their incomes.

We are a lead organisation in Kenya for our work in three key areas:

Smallholder development:

Many people in Kenya are smallholder farmers, relying on the crops they grow and the livestock they keep to survive. For example, our successful dairy goat model supports smallholders in Kenya to increase their incomes through keeping and breeding dairy goats and our Maendeleo Agricultural Technology Fund has seen crop yields increase ten-fold. 

Pastoralist development:

We work with pastoralist communities to reduce their vulnerability, food insecurity and extreme poverty, and build their capacity to manage their own development. With our support, these communities are maintaining their traditional way of life while generating income from other reliable sources to support their families. They are forming their own plans to improve their livelihoods, manage natural resources more effectively and plan for environmental disasters such as drought.

Female empowerment:

Women play an important role in generating household income. Therefore, some of our work focuses on helping women to improve their lives in terms of their economic and social security.

Over the next three years we are looking to expand our work further.

• Smallholder development:
  We will scale up the most successful Maendeleo Agricultural Technology Fund projects, expand our dairy goat model and set up a new ‘Youth Empowerment through Sustainable Agriculture' pilot project. Please click here to find out more about these developments.
• Pastoralist development:
  We will continue to support pastoralists as they develop viable and sustainable ways to make a living. We will help pastoralists to establish and promote community-based early warning systems that enable them to prepare for, identify and withstand natural shocks such as drought. We will also help pastoralists develop market linkages for their existing and new enterprises, helping them to increase their incomes and reduce their vulnerability.

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