Kibera Town Centre

Human Needs Project built a one-stop-shop center in the Kibera slum, Nairobi, Kenya. The Kibera Town Centre is a community-operated infrastructure offering clean drinking water, bathroom facilities, laundry services, and empowerment services: business and entrepreneurship skills training and access to credit and computers. We transforms urban communities.

Worldwide, more than one billion people live in slums, where they are often unable to meet their basic human needs. In many slums, hundreds of thousands of people are squeezed into small slivers of land, where they have few rights and few opportunities. People in slums struggle with meeting their basic needs of clean water, food and sanitation. They also lack empowerment opportunities—skills training, credit, WiFi access, health education, and social and professional networks. Without access, people struggle to escape these harsh living conditions. Living without infrastructure often means living in unsanitary conditions where disease, poverty, and crime run rampant.

Our theory of change is that if strategically combined services at affordable prices—clean drinking water, toilets, food, showers, laundry and empowerment services (business skills training, micro-credit, WiFi, health kiosk, green marketplace)—are provided in a centralized setting, it saves time, money and effort. Residents will be able to obtain the skills, information and credit they need to create opportunity for themselves. Human Needs Project is based on the premise that with access to the right combination of services, anyone who is motivated can work to better their own lives and provide a sustainable future for their families.

We are improving the livelihood of people living in the urban slum of Kibera. Since 2014, 400,000 people have made over 600,000 purchases of products and services at the Centre. The Centre was built in the heart of Kibera so thousands of local slum dwellers have immediate access to basic human services, and at a price within reach of the local market. Entrepreneurs have launched new businesses, women have acquired new business skills, artists have gained employment, and families have improved their health all because of the services deployed at the Centre. 

We track customer purchases of products and services daily. Since we opened the Kibera Town Centre 400,000 people have purchased 600,000 products and services at the facility in Kibera. - Provide services that are accessible for all members of the Kibera community.

Since 2014, 400,000 customers have purchased 600,000 products and services at the Kibera Town Centre. We track these numbers daily. - Make sure we are accessible as a marketplace, including needed products and pricing that meets the needs of the members of Kibera.

We are working to implement systems to usage data for all of our offered systems through sensors running through our center, measuring real-time the amount of solar energy produced, gallons of clean water dispensed, and rate of wastewater recycling. - Be able to sustainably produce the power and water needed to serve Kibera.

The Center's community-run, one-stop-facility uses modern clean technology to deliver basic human services at affordable prices for Kiberans to better their lives. It's the only facility with all services under one roof and run entirely by the local population. Modern technology includes our wastewater recycling system and clean water borehole system which uses remote sensors. Over 80% of wastewater worldwide is not collected or treated. The Centre’s innovative recycle/reuse water system is one Kenya’s most creative water conservation programs, treating contaminated waste of 1,000-4,000 Kiberans daily. It contains the most compact constructed-wetlands system and advanced biosand filter technology systems today. 

Our Centre was designed for and with the local people of Kibera. Our well provides clean drinking water for thousands of people year-round, even during droughts. Our wastewater treatment is environmentally friendly, with minimal energy and chemical inflows. The building is operated and managed by a local team in Kibera who participated in a 2-year capacity building program designed to teach them how to run its operations. 33 team members operate the Centre’s solar-powered water heater system, wastewater system, and 1,000-ft borehole well with alumina filtration system and a 100KVA generator as a back-up due to electricity outages in Kibera.

We started working in Kibera in 2010 and opened the Centre in 2014 after the local people asked for help. Nearly 200,000 people living in/near the Gatwekera Village where the Centre is located have access to 10 business and basic human services offered. We collect market data from the local area to deploy our business services at below market rate costs so the people of Kibera can participate in the Centre's services.  In 2014, earned revenue reached $28,808 and increased to $77,320 in 2016. Since 2014, over 600,000 purchases of services were made by 400,000 people in Kibera. 

We designed the Center with environmental, financial and technical sustainability in mind. We have a hybrid revenue model of philanthropic funding and earned revenue. Major sources of income come from corporate, foundation and individual support with about 10% coming from earned income. We are seeing an increase in earned revenue annually; however, the majority of our costs will be supported by public-private partnerships and philanthropic revenue streams. In 2017, we are cultivating large-scale partnerships with institutional funders and governments who will help us to scale our solution so even more people in Kibera will benefit. 

A challenge has been Kibera’s unpredictable environment. The Centre’s energy infrastructure, for instance, is advanced, but it is also subject to frequent black and brown outs from the grid. There is little governmental presence or law enforcement. Political conflict and election violence present safety risks for staff and customers every election cycle. We believe in charging a minimal fee for our services to encourage Kiberan customers to have more accountability, investment and commitment in the futures. Changing the behavior of the local population to purchase services versus receiving free hand-outs took a long time to accomplish yet it was achieved. 

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We are looking at Solve to open doors for us to change-makers who have the resources and the expertise to help perfect our model as an innovation hub, allowing us to execute a clear and viable proof-of-concept program in the view of investors and governments. We want our services to reach more community members, as well as diversifying and deepening our impact on the community. In collaboration with Solve, we will work towards a Public Private Partnership model with private foundations and the Kenyan government in delivery of our services to more people in need. 

We work with a myriad of NGOs and private institutions to deliver our services. These include Redhorse Constructors, Procter & Gamble Co., NextGen, Davis & Shirtliff, Sama Group, E24 Solutions, The Kung Group, Salesforce, University of California, Berkeley, University of British Columbia, and Mercy Corps.

Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO)