Over 2500 mothers are set to benefit from an economic empowerment program by the Association of Women in Agriculture, Kenya (AWAK) and The Coca-Cola Foundation. This will be through the Resilient recovery for vulnerable mothers living in urban slums program that has been launched in the Coast region.
The Coca-Cola Foundation has invested a total of Kshs. 25.7 Million in the program which is designed to provide long-term interventions. This is in a bid to boost the income and nutrition of the slums households through mothers living in slums.
The program will targets mothers in three informal settlements the Coastal region, that is Kongowea, Kisauni & Changamwe. It will provide beneficiaries with training on urban farming, food processing training, business development skills, briquette making and gardening kits.
The focus on small scale and vulnerable farmers in Kenya resonates with the Big 4 Agenda and the Zero hunger sustainable development goals. Agriculture currently contributes 26% of Kenya’s GDP. The sector accounts for 65% of export earnings. It is therefore crucial to address the core of this fundamental pillar. Food security and economic empowerment for these women. The Covid 19 pandemic has decimated these efforts and more so in the informal settlements.
The 12-month program will offer economic empowerment to the women and their families, contribute to the food security in the settlements by offering readily available, affordable, and healthy food options as well as improve the livelihoods of the families by providing them an alternative source of income.
The mothers will be trained on how to process super foods like cassava, sweet and Irish potatoes into nutritious flours. They will also learn baking skills with the flours processed and also sell the flour.
Gardening groups will receive gardening kits which will comprise gardening bags, seedlings, and other inputs. Another group will be trained on how to convert biomass waste into briquettes to help solve the pollution and waste management crisis in the communities.
Said Saadia Madsbjerg, President of The Coca-Cola Foundation, “This program addresses a fundamental pillar for our company, which is the economic empowerment of women. We are delighted to be a part of this program because the benefits will be shared by the families and communities as well and therefore uplifting the standards of living for the communities.”
Judy Matu, Founder and Chairperson of Association of Women in Agriculture, Kenya (AWAK), had this to say, “The effect of Covid-19 pandemic to the informal settlement households has increasingly been devastating. Recovery at national level is gradually taking shape and we have taken it upon ourselves to assist communities to come out of the aftershocks of the pandemic and its effects on their livelihoods.”
The 2500 mothers will be expected each to train 3 other mothers bringing total trainees to 7500 and indirect beneficiaries to 37,500.