Provision Of Livestock As A Catalyst For Improved Income Generation On Small Farms In Western Kenya

Many of the Groups supported had humble origins. Some were originally formed by women who got together because of their desperate situation and started “merry go rounds” by which they each contributed a small amount of money each month and then supported members in turn either in a crisis situation or for a particular need - eg school fees. As they developed self confidence and improved their well being in a small way, so ngos such as SACHKWR have been able to build on their strengths and support them in the next step towards self sustainability. The challenge now is to ensure that as SACHKWR move on and support other communities that they are able to continue on their own with the minimum of outside support. To this end it is hoped that one of the SACHKWR staff will shortly visit Tanzania where the HEIFER International organization has developed one of the most effective “exit strategies” within their African programmes. Based on his observations the programme will be adapted to fit the Kenya situation. This is the immediate challenge facing the SACHKWR team. Keywords: Kenya, smallholders, women’s groups, livestock, pass on, micro-credit.