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Empowering Women in
Kitui
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Our objective is to give women a greater degree of independence by giving
them a sustainable source of income which they can grow and develop for
themselves and their families.
This programme started off with the
Honey Project. The initial pilot phase of this programme provided, on a repayable loan basis, a number
of beehives to 20 womens groups. Immediately after launch, the bee
population of Ukambani was decimated following the exceptional rains of
winter 2006, and has not recovered. As explained elsewhere, the current
hive occupancy rate of 35% or so is far below the 75% level required for
sustainability. We are currently relocating unoccupied hives in an attempt
to recover as much as possible from the investment.
In 2007, when the first indications that
the beekeeping programme might fall behind expectations, we diverted
empowerment funds into other income generating activities which have
proved more successful in the Ukambani environment.
Currently
we are focusing on the following income generating
activities
In
addition, thanks to the work of Terry Umbach of the One
Village At A Time project, we
have been introduced to the concept of solar cooking which
we believe could be a major benefit towards empowering
women in Kitui. This will be investigated further in coming
months.
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Soap,
Bags and Chickens!
Three womens groups in the parish of
Zombe have now built up a track record in micro-businesses. These income
generating activities produce a significant contribution to the household
budget and give a small cash reserve to meet unexpected demands. Friends
of Kitui provided the seed capital for four income
generating projects. Under the dynamic leadership of Sr.
Florence, four groups were established for soap making,
basket and bag making, honey production, and raising
chickens. The women organised themselves, each group
electing their Chairperson, Secretary, & Treasurer, and
collected a small contribution from each member. The seed
capital was used for training in soap manufacture, using
the local aloe vera plants, and for purchase of materials
and equipment. 500 bars of soap and 50 beautifully made
handbags were shipped to Ireland and sold at the last two
Dalkey Outreach monthly coffee mornings
before Christmas 2008. The women are also selling their
produce at local markets,and in
Nairobi.
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The “Chicken
Group” have clubbed together and funded the construction
of a chicken coop in Zombe from their own resources.
Friends of Kitui will contribute further seed capital to
purchase good quality breeding stock and to provide the
essential vaccinations against endemic diseases. Good
quality local breed chickens sell for €1.50 each, or can
be traded for other foodstuffs. Compare this with the daily
wage for a skilled labourer of €3 and you will realise
what a huge impact this project can have on the household.
Our thanks to
Mary Brogan, and also to Dalkey “Young Lions” under
Robert Lambkin for sterling work on sales of soap and bags
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This video includes an introduction
by Fr Paul Healy, describing the Development objectives of the Diocese of
Kitui |
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Click to enlarge
The leader of the womens
group at Zombe explains to Fr Paul, Alex and Sr. Florence
how the group have successfully set up a goat rearing
project with a loan from the Diocese. Having repaid the
loan, they are now starting an aloe vera soap making
project, and are seeking support for a honey production
venture.
Friends of Kitui have
committed to supporting this venture in 2007.
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Click to enlarge
Trainee beekeepers
examine the smoker, used to pacify the bees while working
on the hive.
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Click to enlarge
Alex Kavili explains how
the Langstroth hive is constructed |
Page Contents:
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Worldwide, more than two thirds of those living in poverty are
women. A similar proportion of women have been deprived of educational
opportunity, and suffer the penalty of illiteracy. Gender based violence has a major impact on huge numbers of women in the developing
world. All to often the consequences of chronic poverty fall squarely on the shoulders of women and girls. |
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The Honey Project
aims to give
participating women an annual income of €100- €200
($125-$250 approx). To see the impact this would have, let's look at
financial data published by the World Bank: |
Gross National Income (GNI)
comparisons for Ireland and Kenya
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Country
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2003
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2004
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World Ranking
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| Ireland |
$27020 |
$34280 |
9 |
| Kenya |
$400 |
$460 |
138 |
| In 2005 Ireland moved further up the
world rankings, and is now 3rd or 4th in the world in terms
of GDP. Kenya's 2004 ranking placed it 138th in a World
Bank listing of 171 countries. Kenya's average GNI figures
do not tell the whole story- a huge percentage of the
population of the Kitui Diocese lives on less than €1 per
day. |
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Click to
enlarge
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The
first training course for the first 20 women participants
in the Honey Project took place week commencing September
17th 2006 at Baraka Agricultural College, Molo, Kenya.
Baraka College is owned by the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru
and managed by the Franciscan Brothers. |
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restrictions on womens' access to,property and resources are a
major contributing factor to poverty in the Kitui District, as is
the case in many parts of Africa. The Honey Project will
empower women by giving them control over a resource which will generate wealth
for them and their families, and in a way which can expand in the future. Top of Page
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This programme intends to
improve womens' status, and hence access to, and
control of resources, by providing them with their own
source of income through beekeeping. The use of beekeeping
as a means of supplementing income is becoming more
widespread throughout the African continent, and in many
other countries also, and has many environmental benefits. |
Introduction:
Empowering
The Women of Kitui Diocese
By
Rev. Fr. Paul Healy, Diocesan Administrator
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our struggle to overcome the many challenges that face our people, the Church in
Kitui
Diocese is deeply involved in the areas of Education, Health, Water development,
Aids prevention, food distribution, seed production and food security, land
advocacy, women’s and children’s rights and other political issues that
affect our people and their way of life.
At
the heart of our programmes there is the desire to empower women in our
society. |
.For generations they have borne the greatest burden of famine,
discrimination, and being treated as second class citizens.
We have had a womens' programme for over fifteen years with a full time
womens' co-ordinator working for the financial, cultural and social
empowerment of our women. As part
of this we now have a micro credit and finance scheme for our women.
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intend to initiate a new programme that will enhance the existing scheme.
Our intention is to initiate a honey business in each of the 23 parishes
that will be managed, owned and operated for the sole purpose of empowering
women financially. In this way the
women
will have economic power to direct their own lives and have resources to care
for their families. We have the
technical expertise at hand or can offer others capacity training where it is
needed. The
honey industry has existed in Kitui
for generations and the basic knowledge |
is
already in the community.
Our aim is to enhance the existing knowledge by new technology, and offer
a processing, packaging and quality control site, so that we can access a wide
market for selling the honey.
We will aim initially to access the local market with quality honey that
is produced to the highest world standards and free from any contamination.
We will also seek to access foreign markets as the project develops.
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the first year, we hope to have trained sufficient numbers of women so that
every area in the district will have a cluster of new bee hives
managed by the women.
Our hope is to have over 200 hives operational within a short time of
project commencement, with a medium term (2 year) target of 2000 hives.
All training is available in Kenya and two full time workers will be
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employed to assist the women in managing the project.
Others will be employed as required on a seasonal basis.
With some support over the next two to three years, I believe that this
simple project can challenge the economic plight of our women and lead them to
greater dignity and hope. Top
of Page |
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We
support people in need in Kitui, Kenya.
