April 29, 2008 - Eco-Community & Bio-Enterprise Network Launch
Despite the political unrest, there was an interest in attempting to create a network of community groups and small businesses with an interest in developing eco-industry in Kenya. We set up a free website with the hopes it would lead to continued updates from interested parties. However, like small businesses everywhere, staff time is an extremely limited resource which meant there was no one available to take ownership of the site and its maintenance.
What did emerge from the discussions surrounding the network was the need to focus on rural agriculture. Agriculture would provide the same opportunities for triple bottom line (financial, social, environmental) benchmarking as an eco-village. More importantly, enabling small scale rural farmers to earn living wages would help to reduce the number of individuals migrating from rural areas to urban centers in search of employment. Nairobi currently has the dubious distinction of housing Kibera which is also known as Africa’s largest slum. Unfortunately, it is not the only large slum in Kenya. Agriculture also represents roughly 22% of the country’s GDP.
In order to place the potential social impact in an economic context, 75% (approx 7.4 million individuals) of Kenya’s workforce is engaged in small-scale, rural agricultural production. Most farmers are producing at or below subsistence farming levels and are not able to generate living wage incomes. This is because rural farmers in Kenya face several challenges:
§ Economies of scale are insufficient
§ Poor Communication, Utilities, and Transportation Infrastructure
§ Climate Change and International Trade Barriers
It was determined that an affordable, transparent communication and monitoring system which can connect farmers with service providers who can help them overcome barriers and connect with existing opportunities is needed.