On March 22, 2023 at the UN Headquarters in New York City, the first global UN conference on water in 46 years will be held. The conference aims to build new commitments, pledges and actions by Governments and all stakeholders towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, and water-related targets across all SDGs, in order to move us collectively towards the Water Action Agenda.
Agriculture pays the bills in Kenya, supporting 80% of the country’s population. However, small businesses and farmers in Kenya often lack access to the business supports they need to prosper. Without access to technology, agricultural inputs, business services, and finance businesses and farmers in Kenya struggle to get by. Women-led businesses often face even stricter challenges.
To better explain MEDA’s transformational journey towards embracing a North-South equilibrium and developing partnerships that are based on delivering systems-level impacts in agri-food systems, Catherine Sobrevega (Country Director, Philippines) and Geoffrey Juma (Country Director, Kenya) sat down with Jessica Villanueva, Senior Director, Technical Areas of Practice to reflect in their own words how their work addresses current trends in international development and contributes to the goals espoused by MEDA’s Strategic Plan.
As the global economy struggles to emerge from the hardships of a lengthy pandemic and ongoing conflict, hopes for recovery will rest largely on the resilience of micro, small-and-medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Fast-growing SMEs in particular are the biggest job creators – they tend to use more labor-intensive processes compared to larger enterprises, which encourages employment and can lead to more equitable income distribution.
Through MEDA’s M-SAWA project, funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC), TCP is providing 15-20 alternative fuel producer (50% women led) enterprises with training, mentorship, financial support, technical support, online resources, and access to a network of entrepreneurs to generate a positive economic and environmental impact by displacing use of traditional wood charcoal.
Through its partnership with M-SAWA Transu aims to support 4,000 cereal farmers in Migori, Homabay and Siaya counties to increase productivity and reduce post-harvest losses while Transu offers a ready offtake market for sorghum and soybean farmers.
Lucas Odhiambo Oduor has been a rice farmer since childhood, supporting his grandfather and father’s farming business. Now in his early thirties, Lucas is a married father of 3 children. As the first born in his family he is also responsible for supporting his parents and siblings.
Young entrepreneurs are also in need of support to pivot and adapt their business strategies in the wake of the changing business environment from COVID-19. This is where MEDA and its partner Ongoza come in.
“The aroma from the Café Del Duca coffee has distinguished me and enabled me to market my business. Today I have cash from my daily
Redemuta is a coffee farmer in rural Kenya. She is an 80-year-old mother of five, currently living with her school-aged grandchild. She became involved in
Mennonite Economic Development Associates is an international economic development organization that creates business solutions to poverty.
MEDA International is a Canadian non-share capital not-for-profit corporation incorporated under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act.
Mennonite Economic Development Associates is a 501(c)(3) status non-profit organization in the United States: EIN 23-7398678.
Mennonite Economic Development Associates of Canada is a registered charity in Canada: No. 107 691 057 RR0001.
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