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GROOTS Kenya has once again made history! We are proud to announce that we have been recognized as the Overall Best NGO for Promoting Gender Equality at the prestigious Diversity and Inclusion Awards & Recognition (DIAR) Awards 2025. This award is a testament of our relentless commitment to empowering grassroots women and their communities, amplifying their voices, and ensuring gender equity in leadership, land rights, economic empowerment, and decision-making processes. It is particularly special since it comes as we celebrate 30 years of grassroots women empowerment.
For nearly three decades, GROOTS Kenya has been at the forefront of transforming communities through champion-led solutions to their identified societal challenges. Through tested models that include; Local to local dialogues, Champions for transformative action, community watch dogs and the champion led model, this recognition validates the work of thousands of grassroots women leaders, community champions, and partners who dedicate their efforts to challenging systemic inequalities and advocating for grassroots women’s rights at all levels. Indeed, grassroots women are a formidable force to be reckoned with, when it comes to real and lasting impact in grassroots transformation.
The DIAR Awards celebrate organizations and individuals making a tangible impact in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across different sectors in Kenya. Being named the best NGO in gender equality reflects the transformative impact of our programs, which include:
This recognition fuels our mission to scale our impact, build stronger alliances, and continue advocating for policies and practices that meaningfully facilitate grassroots women to be at the center of Kenya’s development agenda. It also serves as a challenge—to do more, reach more, and push for greater gender-transformative policies that benefit all women, especially those in marginalized communities – to truly leave no one behind. The 2025 DIAR award is timely as GROOTS Kenya celebrates 30 years of impacting and transforming the lives of grassroots women in Kenya.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our grassroots champions, partners, stakeholders, and supporters who have and continue to walk this journey with us. This award belongs to every grassroot woman who has dared to challenge the status quo, every community leader who has driven transformative change, and every partner who believes in and supports our vision.
The journey towards gender justice is far from over, but together, we are unstoppable!
1st Edition - The Standard Newspaper (19th March 2025) page 9
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From Baringo to Kilifi, Nakuru to Kakamega, Kiambu to Tana River, Laikipia to Kitui, Nairobi to Busia, Nyandarua to Murang’a – Grassroots Women Are Leading the Way!
Thirty years ago, a movement was born out of necessity and urgency. The voices of grassroots women—women who take care of the land, raise families, run businesses, and drive community change—were missing from key decision-making spaces. In 1995, inspired by the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted in Beijing. China at the 4th World Conference on Women, GROOTS Kenya was founded to bridge that gap, ensuring that these women not only participate meaningfully but that they are leading and contributing to shaping policies that impact their lives.
Fast forward to today, and the movement has grown into a national force spanning 22 counties, over 5,000 women-led groups, and countless impactful stories of women who have defied the odds to take up leadership, claim land rights, fight gender-based violence (GBV), and build economic resilience.
“The Journey of GROOTS Kenya at 30” – Testimonials from grassroots champions across pioneering counties – Collated videos taken from the subcounty movement building activity.
As we mark this 30-year milestone, grassroots women have been leading their own celebrations at the sub-county and county levels across 12 pioneering counties:
Baringo | Kilifi | Nakuru | Kakamega | Kiambu | Tana River | Laikipia | Kitui | Nairobi | Busia | Nyandarua | Murang’a
In these counties, women have gathered in their communities, reflecting on their journeys—from securing women’s land rights to becoming elected leaders, from overcoming ending violence to building thriving enterprises and nurturing their families and communities.
Photo Gallery: County-Level Celebrations & Community Stories
Each event has been a powerful reminder that real transformation begins at the grassroots level. These celebrations are not just about the past 30 years; they are about strengthening the intergenerational foundations built over the three decades and reclaiming the future.
The momentum now builds toward Tuesday, March 4, 2025, when GROOTS Kenya will host a national culmination event in Kiambu County. This gathering will bring together:
This historic event will feature:
🗣 Keynote speeches from women who have led transformative change
🏆 Recognition of grassroots champions who have shaped the movement
📢 A call to action for the next decade of GROOTS Kenya
GROOTS Kenya at 30 is more than a celebration—it is a renewed commitment to amplifying the voices of grassroots women in leadership, governance, and economic empowerment. The Beijing+30 moment reminds us that while progress has been made, the promise for an equal, just, inclusive and transformed society is still not achieved.
Grassroots women remain on the frontlines of climate justice, economic justice, and social justice. Their stories are stories of power, determination, and unwavering belief that communities thrive when women in all their diversities are at the decision-making table.
Join us in this historic celebration. Follow the journey, share the stories, and be part of the movement!
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#GROOTSKenyaAt30 | #Beijing30
GROOTs Kenya, continues to support women in commercial agriculture in a bid to improve their economic status. As part of this, Grassroots’ small holder farmers in potato value chain from Nakuru and Nyandarua counties, participated in the third National Potato Conference and Trade Fair held at KALRO in Loresho on the 24th and 25th May 2018.
The GROOTs Kenya's exhibition tent attracted a huge number of participants who were moved by the vibrant grassroots women that displayed the power of empowered women in enhancing food security and agri-business development.
The grassroots women showcased their innovative technologies in value addition of the potato product including making of flavored and non-flavored potato crisps and roasted potatoes.
The grassroots farmers learned of other technologies such as mechanization in land preparation, potato harvesting, production and 
storage. They also familiarized themselves with national and county level government, the 2014 potato bill - geared towards improving the competitiveness of the potato value chain. They interacted with fellow farmers, stakeholders and experts in potato sector. The women, for example, farmers from Nakuru created linkages with seed producers in Nyandarua. The seed grower had the Dutch Robijn variety which farmers in Nakuru had been looking for, to boost their production and meet the demand from an identified (NOLDOX). Women farmers learned about the requirements to qualify as seed producers from KEPHIS (a regulatory body in seed production). Commercial seed production is one of the avenues the women farmers are expected to venture into. Farmers were also able to identify their role in the sector especially in regulating the potato packaging which has been a major avenue of exploitation.
Grassroots women farmers also contributed to key conference discussions on challenges facing farmers as follows:
Potato disease especially bacterial wilt; Seasonality of the crop; Low bargaining power among farmers; Information asymmetry between farmers and the brokers; Disorganized market systems; Low adoption of farming technologies such as use of certified seeds, conservation agriculture and integrated pest management and Poor coordination among development partners.
The National Government through the Agriculture Permanent Secretary, Hon Richard Lesiyampe pledged to support initiatives geared to drive potato production to higher levels through: Irrigation, Mechanization and Provision of extension service.
Other stakeholders who participated at the conference included National Government through the Ministry of Agriculture, GIZ, AGRA, GROW AFRICA, KALRO, SNV, Africa Lead, International Potato Centre (CIP) and USAID.
GROOTS Kenya is grateful for the support and partnership with WeEffect and Horizont3000 Consortium that facilitated grassroots women participation in the event.
GROOTS Kenya in partnership with other Women’s Rights Organizations and development partners among them UN Women, FEMNET, WE Effect, Equal Measures 2030, SDGs Kenya Forum, Women Empowerment Link, CREAW, Help Age International, PIPE Kenya, Global Fund for Women, Christian Aid and Diakonia organized a two day National Rural Women’s Convening on the 13th & 14th December 2017 in Nairobi Kenya targeting at least 300 rural women and girls drawn from across Kenya.
The objectives of the meeting were:
The convening brought together over 300 women and girls from 27 counties including , Nairobi, Narok, Meru, Taita Taveta, ElgeyoMarakwet, Tana River, Migori, Kisii, Nyamira, Nakuru, Kiambu, Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale, Kajiado, Machakos, Laikipia, Isiolo, Marsabit, Kirinyaga, Garissa, Kakamega, Busia, Homabay, Kericho, Bomet and Kitui.
The agreed upon themes of the pre CSW event were;
These being the key issues affecting women and girls in Kenya.
Other key stakeholders at the convening included the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Gender, Public Service and Youth Affairs Hon. Sicily Kariuki, the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association, the National Gender and Equality Commission, female Members of Parliament, the Council of Governors, the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya among others.
The outcome document from the convening will be given to the Cabinet Secretary for consideration on the Common Position Paper for Kenya.
The sixty-second session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) is scheduled to take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from the 12th to 23th of March 2018 where Representatives of Member States, UN entities, Development partners and Civil Society from all over the world will convene yet again to review the progress made in achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment.
The priority theme for 2018 is Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls; while the review theme is Participation in and access of women to the media and information, and communications technologies and their impact on use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women (agreed conclusions of the forty-seventh session). Additionally, the 62nd CSW Session is expected to table and discuss the HIV/AIDS resolution.
My name is Alice Katiwa Mwiza, I am 45 years old and I come from Kayafungo ward in Kaloleni Sub County, Kilifi County. I joined GROOTS Kenya in 2012 after being mapped under the leadership & governance and food security projects. Before this, I was running a small food kiosk which only operated on Fridays and on ‘market days’. However, after joining GROOTS Kenya, I was challenged to become more actively involved in my community's affairs.
After numerous trainings and capacity building by GROOTS Kenya, I was able to articulate the needs of my community and demand solutions to our problems from the relevant duty bearers. More people noticed my leadership and I have so far been appointed to sit on numerous boards of management of local institutions, spaces where I am able to influence positive change.
GROOTS Kenya trained the women in my community on resilient food practices and we realized that we did not always have to buy, borrow or receive food aid. Hundreds of households now have kitchen gardens, poultry and women have learnt to make use of various organic food preservation technologies. Most of the women in the GROOTS Kenya movement in the region have food security despite Kilifi being a semi arid area. We have also participated in numerous peer exchanges with women from other regions which has given us a lot of exposure.
There has been a complete lifestyle change in my community; household relations have improved greatly as women are now making key decisions in their home and more of them have been appointed/elected into leadership as the men seem to gradually embrace women's leadership.
GROOTS Kenya stays on in a region long after a project ends to make sure that they have empowered as many women as they can in the area. They do not discriminate against any woman, literate or not. I hope to see GROOTS Kenya reach all 47 counties in Kenya so that thousands more women are empowered.
Thank you GROOTS Kenya for nurturing me.
GROOTS Kenya is celebrating the win for women in the just concluded general elections. 9 female candidates who were supported by GROOTS Kenya won various elective seats.
Wanjiku Kibe the MP elect for Gatundu North, Sarah Lekorere Laikipia North MP elect, Jackie Nungari Bibirioni Ward MCA elect, Catherine Waruguru the Laikipia County Women Representative elect, Veronica Muthoni Nanyuki East MCA elect, Helemina Llanziva Isukha North MCA, Gladys Mkongolo Idaho North MCA elect,and Godliver Omondi MCA elect for Kholera ward have done us proud by putting themselves out there and emerging victorious.
With the help of the Champions for Transformative Leadership; a group of women and men in Kiambu, Laikipia and Kakamega, GROOTS Kenya mobilized grassroots communities to rally behind these women.
In each sub county and down to the ward level, the champions campaigned for the candidates and even engaged in door to door campaigns to make sure that the women won the respective seats they were gunning for.
In addition to this, GROOTS Kenya facilitated forums where the champions brought together community members to a single venue and had the candidates present their manifestos to the public.
Further, GROOTS Kenya also assisted the candidates to produce campaign materials which included banners, posters, lesos, reflector jackets and stickers.
GROOTS Kenya also went on several platforms to demand that female candidates be provided a safe space to carry out their campaigns and together with other organisations and institutions, made joint calls for peaceful elections and prevention of electoral Gender Based Violence.
The projects, aimed at increasing women's political participation and representation is in line with GROOTS Kenya's core objectives which is enhancing the capacity of women to engage in leadership and governance issues.
Thanks to We Effect, UN Women and the European Union for their support to GROOTS Kenya and their commitment to enhancing women's political participation.
GROOTS Kenya champions from Kiambu, Kakamega, Laikipia and Mathare celebrated this year’s World Environment Day with a series of activities designed to promote a cleaner, safer environment for their communities.
Starting them off on Wednesday, 31st May 2017, Laikipia County champions in partnership with the County Government of Laikipia, NEMA, NAWASCO and Likii Primary school carried out a clean-up exercise in Likii informal settlements.
This was followed by a tree planting exercise in Idaho central ward, Ikolomani Sub County in Kakamega County on Saturday, 3rd June 2017 where the champions planted 1100 trees to rehabilitate gold mining sites that have been closed down. This was also done in partnership with the county government and NEMA. Some miners were also given 100 trees to plant in their homes. Those farmers with open mines committed themselves to covering and rehabilitating them.
On the actual World Environment Day which took place on Monday, 5th June 2017, champions from Mathare, Kiambu, and Nyahururu were engaged in clean up exercises in Mathare Thayu, Kikuyu town and Nyahururu town respectively. Kakamega County celebrated the day by having a procession from Malinya to the Ikolomani Sub County headquarters. The procession was to sensitize the communities on ways to interact and preserve the environment in line with this year’s theme “Connect with Nature”.
In Nanyuki, the champions joined the British Army Training Unit based in the town for a tree planting exercise at Nanyuki High School with NEMA, Kenya Airforce, and the Kenya Red Cross among other partners. They planted 550 trees and 1000 saplings.
GROOTS Kenya under its Community Resilience to Disaster and Climate Change program has trained communities on resilient practices in all the 14 counties where we work and in addition to that, GROOTS Kenya has worked with the Laikipia, Marsabit and Isiolo County Governments in a project that sought to influence policies and have the county mainstream climate change in their county implementation development plans.
It is all systems go for the much awaited grassroots women cooperative. GROOTS Kenya held a pre-cooperative education with 25 grassroots women delegates nominated from Nakuru, Laikipia, Kakamega, Kiambu, Kitui and Nairobi. The delegates endorsed the name,agreed on entrance fee, minimum share capital,minimum deposit, elected interim officials among other things.
GROOTS Kenya has for the last three years had discussions and been in consultations over an appropriate financial vehicle for the over 60,000 women in the movement. In preparation for the set up of a cooperative, GROOTS Kenya introduced the women in the movement to several credit and loaning facilities suited to their specific needs. These facilities included table banking, Village Savings and Loan Association(VSLA), Community Resilience Fund(CRF) and Revolving Seed Fund. Using these, grassroots women were able to save money and borrow loans at low interest rates. The Revolving Seed Fund was a fund set up a local bank where the women could access higher loan amounts from the bank without having to provide any security or collateral. This enabled the women to interact with commercial loans.
From their table banking, the women have been able to save millions of shillings with women in Nakuru county alone having saved upwards of Ksh. 24,000,000. GROOTS Kenya saw the need to have a financial vehicle that would bring on board all the women in the movement and provide a space for women to access larger loan amounts at flexible and affordable rates.
We are grateful to the Ministry of Cooperative Development for facilitating this process.
participants at the GROOTS SACCO pre-cooperative education day
GROOTS Kenya continues to be used as a reference and learning point on various issues regarding women's empowerment.
GROOTS Kenya hosted 10 Anglican Archbishops wives from Kenya, Burundi, Ghana, DRC, Zambia, Uganda, Ghana and Rwanda in Nakuru County. The women were interested in learning GROOTS Kenya's model of organizing rural women with a special focus on table banking, they intend to replicate the learnings among rural women in their home countries.
They visited a farm in Kapsita, Molo, where they interacted with 20 women farmers in the project Accelerating Rural Women's Access to Markets and Trade.
The project worked with 3500 women in Nakuru and Kitui Counties along the poultry, dairy and horticulture value chains. The women were organised into 133 common interest groups. All the 133 groups were engaged in table banking and have cumulative savings of Ksh. 30,595,075 with one group, Golden Ladies Women Group in Kuresoi North having saved Ksh.1,200,000.
The women have among other things been able to purchase group properties with the money with two groups having already purchased land in Nakuru County. Several other groups are also engaged in income generating activities. More importantly however, the women farmers can now access loans of up to Ksh. 200,000 from their table banking. With these loans, the women have improved their agribusinesses, paid school fees and overall witnessed improved livelihoods. Over 85% of women in the project said that they now participate in decision making on household income expenditure.
The group with the least amount of money saved has Ksh.75,000.
GROOTS Kenya will leave no grassroots woman behind in our quest to empower grassroots women, one women at a time, one county at a time.
GROOTS Kenya showcased and demonstrated how grassroots women are using a bottom up approach to localize Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda at the just concluded 26th session of the UN Habitat Governing Council (GC26) held in Nairobi at the UN Offices from 8th-12th May 2017.
Among some of the grassroots actions and interventions that GROOTS Kenya showcased were in the health sector using the Home Based Care Alliance model, the creation of Rural-Urban Linkages through improved essential services and infrastructure resulting from lobbying and advoacy, securing and safeguarding public land through community led public land mapping, enhancing food safety and security by adopting sustainable and improved farming technologies, promoting gender equality by supporting female aspirants among others.
GROOTS Kenya was represented at the GC26 by three staff members and two grassroots women leaders. The five representatives attended and participated in several sessions and side events among them; the Women's Caucus, the Gender Forum on Achieving Gender Equality in a Fast Urbanizing World and another on Engendering the New Urban Agenda Implementation.
GROOTS Kenya's booth was visited by 127 delegates whose interest was piqued by the work GROOTS Kenya is doing to empower grassroots communities and ensure that grassroots women take part in development processes.
At the council, President Uhuru Kenyatta stated that the New Urban Agenda shall be implemented by counties because secondary cities in Kenya are growing at a faster rate than the primary cities.
