Women Empowerment through Agriculture

We are solving Food Insecurity among women and people with disabilities in Kisumu County.Generation for Hope Youth Group proposing Digitilization of Agriculture among Women and people with disabilities.Agricultural innovation will strengthen the resilience of agri-food systems and offer the digitalization of agriculture, the smallholder farmers will be offered women new techniques and help agricultural systems to adapt and mitigate the effects. If its scaled globally It will increase the productivity and profitability of value chains for resilient agriculture, food security, and agricultural value chain and evaluate systems-level effects and interactions, will help achieve food security under a changing climate. It will make farming more sustainable, food healthier and value chains that are better connected, greener, more circular, and of sustainable food security and rural renaissance for women empowerment.

• Lack of Procurement and distribution of assorted Cropping Kits,Vegetable Kits,Farming Tools to beneficiaries in Gem Rae North Nyakach Ward,Nyakach Constitueny who lost their belonging due to flooding.
• Lack of  improved food production in the county by  implementation of Input Trade Fairs for crop seed and tools, distribution of kits( crop, vegetable)
• Low agricultural knowledge and skills through provision of basic instructions on agricultural practices.

• Lack of building and strengthening rural capacities to establish structures for resilience programming 
• Insufficient support  on training and extension programmes, materials and services that promote sustainability of the projects and capacity building of farmers 
• The lack of D4Ag infrastructure –i.e  farmer registries, digital agronomy data, soil mapping, pest and disease surveillance, and weather data infrastructure.
• The effects of COVID-19 on Agriculture and Food Security.

Our Solution serve Youth,Women and People with disabilities in Gem Rae, North Nyakach,Nyakach Constituency.The proposed project is linked with the Food Security and Livelihood strategy of Food Security and Livelihoods to Enhance emergency food production, give training in improved agronomic and fishing good practices. Under this strategy Generation for Hope Youth Group plans to improve food production in Gem Rae, North Nyakach Constituency to foster the implementation of agriculture, fisheries and Input Trade Fairs for crop seed and tools, distribution of emergency kits (crop, vegetable and fishing) to build and strengthen rural capacities hence establishing structures for resilience programming and marketing.

We are solving the problems of Food Insecurity among Women Youth and People with disabilities in Gem Rae,North Nyakach Constituency to address gender equality & inclusion of vulnerable by the use of  Agricultural innovation that strengthens the resilience of agri-food systems and offer the digitalization of agriculture and offered Women new techniques, help agricultural systems to adapt and mitigate the effects. It will increase the productivity and profitability of value chains for resilient agriculture, food security, and agricultural value chain and evaluate systems-level effects and interactions, achieve food security under a changing climate of sustainable food security and rural renaissance

Mobile Banking and Financial Services - This project deals with financial literacy and savings and credit skills such as Table Banking, financial mobility and personal budgeting.It will  reduce the gender gap in mobile internet and mobile money services and unlock significant commercial opportunities for the mobile industry and socio-economic benefits for women.

Gender and Inclusivity -Removing barriers to access, usage and disparities in the availability of information and technology.By the use of this service, women will own mobile phones and register an electronic money service such as the M-PESA with network providers and enjoy banking with them and Inter dependency of women to men as source of livelihood will be reduced

Gender equality and empowerment of women as well as the active participation of women in mobile financial services, food security,adaptation and resilience to climate change will be promoted and mainstreamed in all inclusive community projects.

Food Security, Adaptation& Resilience to climate change - Agricultural innovation will strengthen the resilience of agri-food systems and offer the digitalization of agriculture, the smallholder farmers will be offered new techniques and help agricultural systems to adapt and mitigate the effects. It will increase the productivity and profitability of value chains, Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) for resilient agriculture, food security, and agricultural value chain. This innovations for adaptation in agriculture will help achieve food security under a changing climate. The use of D4Ag infrastructure – farmer registries, digital agronomy data, soil mapping, pest and disease surveillance, and weather data infrastructure.

Agriculture is undergoing an evolution - technology is becoming an
indispensable part of every commercial farm. New precision agriculture
companies are developing technologies that allow farmers to maximize
yields by controlling every variable of crop farming such as moisture
levels, pest stress, soil conditions, and micro-climates. By providing
more accurate techniques for planting and growing crops, precision
agriculture enables farmers to increase efficiency and manage costs.The use of D4Ag infrastructure – farmer registries, digital agronomy data, soil mapping, pest and disease surveillance, and weather data infrastructure.

To save lives, protect livelihoods, enhance food production through Digitisation of Agricultural Value Chains and strengthen the resilience of the vulnerable Women and young Persons with disabilities in Kisumu County,Homa Bay County and Migori County by building their coping capacities and strategies.

Activities:

• Economic empowerment of women and people with disability through micro-finance and vocational training
• Distributing  agricultural seeds/tools to the poorest vulnerable women and persons with disabilitie to cultivate for themselves to reduce their vulnerability to hunger
• Increasing the cultivation of mixed crops (sorghum, maize, millet, beans, groundnuts, sesame, cassava, yam and potatoes) to overcome shocks of flood/droughts.
• Training on Mobile Banking and Financial Services through mobile phones and technologies, financial literacy and savings.
• Registering an electronic money service such as the M-PESA with network providers for Women to enjoy banking services. 

• Setting up small grant processing Women and Women with disability groups and monitor saving and loan schemes
•  Distribution of inputs, tools and equipment for identified livelihood enterprises (new genetic material-crop, vegetables and livestock, apiculture, aquaculture, NTFPs).
• Creating scalable engaging mobile solutions Agriculture, bettering poor knowledge of agricultural practices, and new technologies, inputs

• Monitoring and Evaluation Reporting

Short term Outcome 1:
 Agricultural Digitization services are more accessible to women and Women with disability elevated.                     

Long term Outcome 2:

Livelihoods of the most vulnerable households in Gem Rae Community,North Nyakach Ward,Nyakach Constituency in Kisumu County protected.   

Output 1: Greater gender diversity in the communities’ development and network.

Output 2 : Increase in safety and access to growth for Women and Persons with disability and reduce Gender Based Violence.

Output 3: Enhancement of Youth toward technology, Agriculture and value chains increase and diversified.   

Agricultural development is one of the most powerful tools to end extreme poverty. Agriculture accounts for nearly one-third of global gross domestic product (GDP), and the majority of the world’s poor live in rural areas and make a living through agriculture. To end extreme poverty by 2030, most of the income gains will need to be made in rural areas, including by boosting smallholder farmers’ earnings from farming and off-farm activities.1 Increasing the ability of such smallholders to professionalize, improve their productivity, and generate additional income is therefore critical to both alleviate rural poverty and increase food security. Smallholder families have complex livelihoods.Without an official proof of identity, many smallholder farmers struggle to access services and subsidies and to seize new opportunities offered by innovations in mobile technologies, finance, and beyond. A robust recognized ID can help smallholder farmers formally register land and livestock, and access mobile, financial, and other services that would allow them to work, sell, and spend income formally. Thus, identification is an important building block to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. Increasing the effectiveness and inclusivity of subsidy programs; enabling formal land and asset registration; and improving data about farmers’ economic activity and needs.

Emerging digital technologies have the potential to change farming beyond recognition.“a ‘digital agricultural revolution’ will be the newest shift which could help ensure agriculture meets the needs of the global population into the future.” including connectivity (mobile subscription, network coverage, and broadband and Internet access) and affordability; educational systems, literacy and employment

• enablers for adoption of digital technologies: those capabilities that make possible or drive changes using digital technologies (use of Internet, use of mobile and social media), digital skills, agripreneurial and innovation culture (investment).
• taking advantage of technology to improve economic (efficiency, productivity, etc.), social and cultural (food security, digital divide, social benefits, women and youth inclusion, fairness, etc.), and environmental impacts (climate change adoption and adaptation, resilience, sustainability, etc.) through the use of different types of resources.
• economic: agricultural practices and technologies can contribute to increase productivity, reduce production and logistic costs, reduce food loss and waste, increase market opportunities, bring sustainability at the levels of target  farmers, value chains and increase the sector.

• social and cultural: technologies can create an integrating effect at a social and cultural level through the communication mechanisms they provide. Some factors that influence this exclusion correspond to age, gender, youth, language and rurality.
• environmental: smart agriculture, or precisionand digital agriculture, allows for monitoring and optimizing of agricultural production processes, as well as value chains and delivered products. The use of digital technologies  will allows us on prevention and adaptation to climate change, as well as the best use of natural resources.

 Our solution is interoperable with existing technologies and open standards.

Mobile Enabled Utilities - Mobile services (Voice, SMS, USSD, mobile data) will be used by communities, village agents, and service providers to report service delivery status, improve field force of operations, optimise supply chain, or provide customer support Mobile payments (Mobile money services, SMS payments, airtime) and mobile savings will extensively enable the development of PAYG models and other innovative financing schemes providing affordable energy, water and sanitation solutions to low income populations.M-PESA will be used for banking purposes to reduce the spread of COVID-19 The use of D4Ag infrastructure – farmer registries, digital agronomy data, soil mapping, pest and disease surveillance, and weather data infrastructure Such investments are important building blocks for individual enterprisesand for the D4Ag ecosystem more broadly because they drastically reduce transaction costs, drive efficiency and increase the effectiveness of solutions.

1. Because low-skilled and low-literate users are easily confused when using technology, we will use plain language, ideally in the local language. For example, words like ‘pesticides’ are likely to be unknown to low-skilled and low-literate users.Generation for Hope will be simple, clear and culturally relevant.Audio content containing voice will be in slow, clear and loud-enough speech and will ensure that content is gender sensitive. Given that women and girls are usually less literate and less exposed to technology, content will be inclusive of female users in language, imagery and actors.Content. 
2. Build help or instructions into the content, about how to use the content and the solution, to reduce confusion and fear, establishing a sense of trust will be important. Using local language content, and even local actors and voice scan will be very helpful for this project.
3. We will be making content relatable to the audience and their lives. For example, to provide locally relevant agriculture and livelihoods information to rural farming communities,by producing short videos that feature local farmers as the experts.
4. Using local actors we will reduces the perceived distance between the farmers and outside experts and makes the content relatable. Mobile Generation for Hope Youth Group seeks to improve agricultural services through a phone call-based community-media platform, used by more than five thousand people from offline, rural areas. The platform relies heavily on users contributing their news, grievances, feed back and questions, as forms of civic engagement, self-expression and even cultural affirmation.

1. Our solution is currently serving 2,350 people desegregated Women - 1,000 Youth - 800 ,Persons with disabilities 550

TOTAL 2,350

1. The number we will be serving in one year Women -2,600 Youth - 1,800 People with disabilities - 750

TOTAL 5,150

1. The number of people we will be serving in 5 years time Youth -  9,000 Women -13,000 People with disabilities - 3,750

TOTAL 25,750

To save lives, protect livelihoods, enhance food production through Digitisation of Agricultural Value Chains and strengthen the resilience of the vulnerable Women and young Persons with disabilities in Kisumu County,Homa Bay County and Migori County by building their coping capacities and strategies.                          

Outcome 2: Agricultural Digitization services are more accessible to women and Women with disability elevated

Output: Greater gender diversity in the communities’ development and network

Impact: Increase in safety and access to growth for women and women with disability and reduce Gender Based Violence  

• Economic empowerment of women and people with disability through micro-finance and vocational training
• Distributing  agricultural seeds/tools to the poorest vulnerable women and persons with disabilitie to cultivate for themselves to reduce their vulnerability to hunger
• Increasing the cultivation of mixed crops (sorghum, maize, millet, beans, groundnuts, sesame, cassava, yam and potatoes) to overcome shocks of flood/droughts.
• Training on Mobile Banking and Financial Services through mobile phones and technologies, financial literacy and savings.
• Registering an electronic money service such as the M-PESA with network providers for Women to enjoy banking services. 

• Setting up small grant processing Women and Women with disability groups and monitor saving and loan schemes
•  Distribution of inputs, tools and equipment for identified livelihood enterprises (new genetic material-crop, vegetables and livestock, apiculture, aquaculture, NTFPs).
• Creating scalable engaging mobile solutions Agriculture, bettering poor knowledge of agricultural practices, and new technologies, inputs

• Provision of Mobile Enabled Utilities to 500 Women agents,  100  women service providers to report service delivery status.
• Monitoring and Evaluation Reporting

1. Lack of Insufficient  Funds
2. Floods in the project regions
3. Insecurity in case of election Violence
4. COVID-19 Pandemic Scare
5. Lack of communication (internet connectivity)
6. Environmental Hostility

1. Lack of Insufficient  Funds - Generation for Hope Youth Group will continue to source for other funds for sustainability of the project and will request the community to see this project as their own and support it,we will also reapply in case there is an opportunities.
2. Floods in the project regions- We will be keen observing it accordingly through meteorology.
3. Insecurity in case of election Violence - political circumstances beyond the control of the implementing entity like political instability.. Generation for Hope Youth Group plan to involve security personnel during project implementation period.
4. COVID-19 Pandemic Scare - We will do sensitization and awareness and donate mask,gloves and sanitizer to project beneficiaries when implementing the project with them to control the pandemic.
5. Lack of communication -Generation for Hope Youth Group plan to install WIFY to help in project implementation,communication,project social media and email sharing and Report sharing to donor.
6. Environmental Hostility: Safety and security of the recipient or
   beneficiaries by implementing this project will be protected by providing security details before and after in the project implementation.

N/A

Full time staff - 30

Part Time Staff - 10

Contractors - 2

Volunteers - 15

Generation for Hope Youth Group staff represents a diverse background to show our commitments to global values. We are mix of indigenous team and expatriates from across the region. This establishment is to support the local staff tap from the expertise of expatriates, through a deliberate transfer of skills in the work environment.

Moses Ochola – Chairman / Program Manager

Moses has got vast experience in implementing Food Security & Livelihoods, WASH, Health, and Nutrition, Protection, Human rights/Democracy, Peace and Conflict Resolution projects across South Sudan and Kenya in the last 7 years

 Carolyne Atieno Odeny – Assistant Chair lady – Gender Based Violence  Project Officer

Gender Based Violence Project Officer with long experience in managing Gender Based Violence, health and nutrition projects in in Gem Rae for the last 3 years.

Robert Ouko - Agriculture Extension/ field assistant (crop)

Have experience in distributing inputs, tools and equipment for identified livelihood enterprises (new genetic material-crop, vegetables) across Nyakach Constituency

Faith Anyango Owuor - Finance Manager

Faith has qualifications in Finance and Accounting, and she is in charge of keeping records of financial transactions for the last three years. She integrated targeted livelihood activities into GVB, child protection and durable solution programming to enhance the protective environment in Kisumu County.  

James Ochieng - Logistics Officer 

James Ochieng is experienced staffs who is served in the transport and logistics sector with different organizations in Nyakach for the last 3 years.

We currently partnering with;

Rotaract Club of Lake Victoria Kisumu -

• To improve food production in Gem Rae ,North Nyakach Ward to foster the implementation of agriculture and livestock’s Input Trade Fairs for crop seed and tools, distribution kits (crop, vegetable and fishing) to build and strengthen rural capacities hence establishing structures for resilience programming and marketing i.e Economic and community development

Gem Rae Youth Development Group -

• Partnering to carryout community based participatory planning mobilization to assess beneficiaries’ critical needs, priorities and choices through analyzing technical, financial, environmental and social feasibility to ensure beneficiaries understand the project and take ownership of the project to enhance successful implementation and sustainability of the project in Gem Rae,North Nyakach Ward
• To improve Agricultural innovation that strengthen the resilience of agri-food systems and offer the digitalization of agriculture, to the smallholder farmers
• To improve agricultural knowledge and skills through provision of basic instructions on agricultural practices.

    Rae Young Professionals  -

• Review the effectiveness, efficiency and timeliness of project implementation;
• Analyze effectiveness of implementation and partnership arrangements;
• Identify issues requiring decisions and remedial actions;

Generation for Hope Youth Group provide value to the population we serve through fundraising,Members subscription,through well wishers contributions and Agricultural Product sales.We serve Gem Rae Community,North Nyakach Ward,Nyakach Constituency.The beneficiaries are Youth,Women,People with disabilities and the community.

1. Generation for Hope Youth Group has been Carryout community based participatory planning mobilization to assessbeneficiaries’ critical needs, priorities and choices through analyzing technical,financial,environmental and social feasibility to ensure beneficiaries understand the project and take ownership of the project to enhance successful implementation and sustainability of the project in Gem Rae North Nyakach,Nyakach Constituency,Kisumu County.

2.  Procure and distribute assorted Cropping Kits, Vegetable Kits, and Farming Tools to beneficiaries in Kisumu County.

3.  Distributing relevant inputs, equipment and tools to pilot the different intensification and climate resilient technologies.

4. Facilitating cross learning actions among different farming groups on protection of the ecosystem, ecological restoration and reclamation by promoting awareness locally

5. Providing trainings on crop production technologies and establish and document knowledge management systems for all groups.

6. Implementing Livelihoods Input Trade Fairs/Seeds Fair on Dry season through provision of Horticultural seeds, mobilization, training of the beneficiaries, traders, the seed fair committees.

7.  Awareness creation of biodiversity and ecosystem losses, lack of education in the importance of environments to humans and solutions that can promote the health and vitality of ecosystems.

• Generation for Hope Youth Group need the support to Empower Women, Youth and people with disabilities to fight COVID-19 through Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security in Gem Rae, North Nyakach,Nyakach Constituency.

After completion of the project activities, we do not plan to stop our operations. We will ensure that we have internal resource mobilization mechanisms to help us sustain and own the activities in the future. We will also encourage the community members to see this project as their own, support it and ensure it continues.

The trained youth,Women,people with disabilities will remain available
in the community and will continue to train their own peer youth groups
in Agriculture using local resources and training manuals provided by
Generation for Hope Youth Group.

We expect that after implementing Agriculture initiatives, the impact will be great within the Gem Rae,North Nyakach ,Nyakach Constituency,Kisumu County. This will be encouraging the Project Team and Committee members to expand the idea of Food Security and Livelihoods to other parts of the county.With proper organization, we believe that this initiative can lead to a big lifesaving food and support to production and markets initiative in Kisumu County.

1. Generation for Hope Youth Group in the previous raised $ 3,120 from well wishers to run its activities.
2. Youth Membership subscription $ 800
3. Sale of Agricultural Product $ 1,130

Generation for Hope Youth Group seek to raise US $44,100 grant

Our estimate budget for 2020 $ 44,100

1. Staff/Personnel Costs – Amount in US $ 6,000
2. Supplied – Amount in US $ 2,500
3. Equipment/Furniture – Amount in US $ 1,500
4. Travel – Amount in US $ 1,200
5. Contractual services/consultants – Amount in US $ 1,400
6. Direct activity costs – Amount in US $ 30,000
7. Office/Admin Costs – Amount in US $ 1,000
8. Audit – Amount in US $ 500

TOTAL Project Costs (TPC) US $ 44,100

1. Generation for Hope Youth Group are applying to the Mission Billion Challenge Global Prize to address problems of biodiversity and ecosystem losses, lack of education in the importance of environments to humans and solutions that can promote the health and vitality of ecosystems.
2. Empowering Women, Youth and people with disabilities to fight COVID-19 through Sustainable Agriculture and food Security in Gem Rae, North Nyakach,Nyakach Constituency.
3. Protecting the ecosystem by promoting awareness. Informing the general
   population about the multitude of benefits biodiversity and encourage people to be more conscious of the environment, protecting species/habitats in immediate danger, solving in the face of biodiversity loss is the problem of sustainable and alternate livelihoods for the people forced to damage ecosystems just in order to survive.
4.  Lack of Insufficient funding to contribute to the development of Women, Youth and people with disabilities on Agriculture and Food security
5. Previous floods in the project regions caused havoc, loss of livelihoods in most households, destruction of Crops in their farms left them remain vulnerable.
6. Insecurity in during of election times, there is need to empower mostly women and people with disabilities as they always remain vulnerable in case of this situation making them starving with their children’s
7. COVID-19 Pandemic Scare has a massive consequences to health and livelihoods on both Women, persons with disabilities and Youth. Given the precarious livelihoods of many Kenyans, agriculture, food security, and safety net policy and program responses are also urgently required

• Initiate, plan and implement agricultural projects which assist in the enhancement of the skills and business capabilities of smallholder farmers.

• Teach and demonstrate sustainable methods of agriculture and horticultural practices including, land use, land and water conservation, land preparation, irrigation through extension and demonstrations. In particular to promote Conservation Agriculture;

• Support training and extension programmes, materials and services that promote sustainability of the projects and capacity building of farmers;

• Improve linkages between organisations representing rural farmers and local and international bodies seeking to improve agriculture and local organisations servicing farmers;

• Promote agricultural development projects that are targeted to the vulnerable, poor, fatherless and widows in the rural areas;

• Promote programmes that create employment and generate income in rural areas.
• Promote programmes that improve smallholder farmer access to agricultural inputs and agricultural markets;
• Increase production and productivity of existing agricultural projects, if appropriate.

1. Food Recovery Network - They can help us  to scale up innovations in agriculture to be able to feed a growing and increasingly urbanized

2. Food and Agriculture Organization - Training on Food Security

3. Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) - Connecting Generation for Hope Youth Group with a shared vision to create productive, profitable, equitable & resilient landscape and how to feed the world without eating the planet.