Implemented in remote rural regions of Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya, the Rural Women Cultivating Change (RWCC) project is shifting the cultural attitudes, systems and structures that limit the potential of young and adult rural women smallholder farmers, particularly female heads of households, and survivors of gender-based violence.

In Kenya, Rural Women Cultivating Change project is implemented in partnership with Grass Roots Organizations Together in Sisterhood (GROOTS), HIVOS East Africa (HIVOS), and Seed Savers Network Kenya (SSN). GROOTS, SSN and HIVOS are working together with their experience in leadership and mentorship programs to build on women’s sense of agency, increase women’s confidence through peer support and provide opportunities for women to undertake leadership roles.

Current project activities promote local knowledge-sharing opportunities between partners and community participants and prioritize collaborations with local women’s groups or groups where women have or need to have leadership positions. The partners in Kenya are addressing the underlying harmful social norms, attitudinal and societal barriers, and heightened care responsibilities that prevent women from fully participating in development activities. The teams are working together to advocate for the enforcement of social protection laws and policies that prevent SGBV.

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Accelerating Rural Women Access to agricultural markets and trade is a development project with an objective to contribute to women’s economic empowerment and improved live hoods through enhanced agricultural production and access to markets.

The first face of the project started in May 2012 and ended in March 2017 where 3500 rural women living in vulnerable circumstances in Nakuru and Kitui counties were successful organized into 133 common interest groups with an aim of equipping them with relevant knowledge and skills as well as enhance their leadership and organizational capabilities to enable them become drivers of their own social economic transformation.

up-to date the project has been able to achieve

• 3,500 women organized in 131 registered and functional farmers groups along the value chains
• 60 grassroots women trained as community advocacy champions to lead the lobby and advocacy along the value chains.
• Engagement of national & county stakeholders by the advocacy teams for the provision of essential services using project fact sheets. Improved infrastructure (roads, health facilities, markets& schools)
• 110 grassroots women has ascended to local decision making & leadership positions through the project.
• 237 community resource persons (coaches) trained to support ongoing capacity enhancement among farmers in production and agribusiness
• Enhanced uptake of technologies and proper farm management by women farmers
• Increased yields (milk 5-15 litres more per cow/day), increased poultry production (5 to 50 birds per farm)
• Successful collective marketing.10 premium agribusinesses established
• 80% of the women farmers and all CIG hold savings in bank accounts. Self-mobilized group resources utilized in purchasing of materials for constructing farm management units and farm inputs
• Subsidized loans/funds worth $ 1,138,000 disbursed to individual farmers and farmer groups through the “Financing grassroots women concept”
• Web-based project, farmer-fed management information system (MIS) operationalized to monitor progress at farm level
• 90 trained women farmers to monitor progress using a mobile application.100 android tablets provided by the project to collect enterprise data

Project objective - To equip women with relevant knowledge and skills as well as enhance their leadership and organizational capabilities to enable them to become drivers of their own social and economic transformation in Nakuru and Kitui Counties with a focus on the dairy, horticulture & indigenous chicken value chain. The project plans to contribute to women farmers’ economic empowerment and improve livelihoods through improved agricultural production and access to markets

Partners - JSDF (Japan Social Development fund) and WORLD BANK

Beneficiaries - More than 3,500 rural households in Nakuru County and Kitui County

GROOTS Kenya in partnership with HORIZONT3000 is currently implementing a three year governance project entitled Money Power: Enhancing grassroots women, youth, marginalized and indigenous people’s voice and influence on public budget and fiscal policy at county level in Kenya” with funding from European Union which kicked off in January 2020.

The overall objective of the action is to contribute to building strong, effective and transparent public institutions at County levels through enhanced responsive, inclusive and participatory decision making as envisioned in the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and Sustainable Development Goal 16. The action is being implemented in 2 Counties namely Muranga and Laikipia

The project proposes to utilize a grassroots-led advocacy strategy, primarily driven by the solidarity movement which constitutes women, youth, marginalized and indigenous people groups. The project purposes to tap into policy makers from the departments of Finance and Economic Planning, County Departments of Gender, Youth and Social services, County Sectoral Departments of Water/Trade & Cooperatives/ Agriculture/ Health, Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) Budget Committee, County Budget and Economic Forums, Governors and Senators, amongst other stakeholders. These duty bearers will collaborate towards a more gendered public planning and budgeting with the solidarity movement. The solidarity movement consists 100 grassroots lobby groups specifically 50 Grassroots women groups, 30 Youth groups, 20 Marginalized and indigenous persons groups.

The action is expected to realize the following outcomes; Strengthened solidarity movement of women, youth, marginalized and indigenous people, enhanced knowledge of women, youth, marginalized and indigenous people in Public Finance Management (PFM) and in political advocacy, enhanced capacity of county government to deliver effective public participation and improve public expenditure management and strengthened networking with mainstream and social media and experiences capitalized and shared.

The Rural Women Economic Empowerment project seeks to socially and economically empower rural women farmers through agri-business and rural development in Muranga and Nyandarua Counties with an overall objective to contribute to reduce poverty and injustice.

When the projects started in 2018, it was noted that 68% of the mapped participants had low income levels (less than Kshs.5000 per month) and lived in mud walled houses. To ensure financial inclusion which is one of the project outcomes, GROOTS Kenya trained 40 TOTs from 19 groups in Murang’a 35 TOTs from 17 groups in Nyandarua on Group Savings and Loaning (GS&L).

As a result, the farmers shifted from a merry-go-round to group savings and loaning process (GSL)  also known as table banking, here each farmer saves at least 200 shillings per month to be able to provide loans to each other at an agreed interest over an agreed period of time.

This further resulted to farmers taking up poultry farming for faster income to meet their short-term needs.

GROOTS Kenya has established linkages between sub-county and ward level agricultural extension officers for the farmer groups. As a result, the agricultural officers visited farmers in Muranga and collected data on farming production, and developed and tested a banana curriculum. They are currently training farmers through demonstration plots with majority of the farmers slowly adapting to more resilient practices.

Partners - We -Effect

Beneficiaries-  Muranga and Nyandarua